Food firms to benefit from eating out trends

Food manufacturers are set to benefit from two separate contradictory eating out trends, predicts the director of market research group MCA.

Consumers are dining out more often and are increasingly eating healthier food and indulgence meals, Simon Stenning told FoodManufacture.co.uk in this exclusive video interview.

Healthier eating and indulgence follow the same trend, Stenning told FoodManufacture.co.uk, filmed at the Oxford Farming Conference. A healthy meal in the morning meant consumers felt less guilty when gorging in the evening, he said.

‘Key trends include some that are contradictory’

“These key [food and drink] trends include some that are contradictory,” Stenning said. “So [for example], we see healthier eating and indulgence; both mega trends that sit comfortably together. We described it as ‘the eating out see-saw tipping’.

“For example, ‘I’m going to have a super food salad at lunchtime so I can have a dirty burger in the evening.’”

The impact of vegetarianism on meat companies, the demographics of eating out and other food and drink trends were also highlighted in the video.

Importance of food trends for manufacturers

Watch out for the second part of FoodManufacture.co.uk’s video interview with Stenning, as he reveals how food and drink manufacturers could make the most of the changing consumer trends.

MCA – which provides market insights into the eating out and drinking out sectors – is owned by the Food Manufacture Group’s publisher, William Reed.

Meanwhile, Innova’s top five food and drink trends for 2017 were revealed in November. They included ‘clean supreme’, ‘sweeter balance’ and ‘disruptive green’.