The cost of living crisis is putting a strain on every household, and not even Waitrose’s wealthy customer base is exempt.
The grocer’s latest annual Food & Drink Report reveals shoppers are having to be savvier than ever when it comes to grocery shopping, with 72% of shoppers admitting they are now being more mindful about what they are spending and more than a third saying they are shopping around for bargains.
This has led to a rise in sales of less traditional – but more affordable – products, such as Spam and other cheaper sources of protein
In an unexpected turn of events, Spam is the comeback king of 2022 – and for good reason. The cheap and filling protein has long been associated with wartime rationing, and more recently it has made a return in the British consciousness as a staple of trendy southeast Asian cuisine. To cement its revival, it has a long shelf life, meaning demand for it often spikes in times of economic hardship.
Waitrose reports sales of the canned pork and ham are up by 36% in the year to September 2022, and online searches for waitrose.com’s recipe for ‘Spam’ fritters with crushed peas have risen by 82%.
Meanwhile, sales of fish heads are up by an astonishing 34%, while sales of beef chin, ox cheek and lamb neck were up by 23%, 9% and 4% respectively.
These non-standard cuts of meat and fish often retail for a fraction of the price of more traditional loins and choice chops, making a zero-waste approach just one way in which shoppers are coping with the cost of living squeeze.
Tightening the belt
Waitrose reports its shoppers are trading down by swapping chicken breasts for thighs, artisan bread loaves for sliced white loaves, and olive oil for vegetable oil.
In addition, more and more people are buying frozen ready meals, a cost-effective and convenient alternative. Some of Waitrose’s customers’ favourites this year include the comfort food classics – fish pie, lasagne and mac & cheese. However, some of these require lots of oven time. Enter the humble air fryer, which is more economical than an oven, and has recently skyrocketed in popularity in the face of soaring energy bills. Sales of air fryers have risen across multiple retailers in the past couple of months, but they have skyrocketed on johnlewis.com – 56% up year on year.
Plus, the growing squeeze on budgets has highlighted the importance of reducing food waste. Best before labels are out, with all major supermarkets phasing them out to help tackle household food waste. Younger generations in particular have been keen to adopt the ‘sniff test’ method, with 25% of 18 to 24-year-olds saying they completely ignore best before labels.
But one thing no one is immune to is a good bargain, and in times of financial strain, it’s the yellow stickers that do not go unmissed. According to the supermarket’s annual survey, reduced labelled food has been rising in popularity, with one in four customers saying they like to keep an eye out for money-off bargains.
Spicing up weeknight meals
Scratch and batch cooking is also on the rise, a bandwagon that Waitrose jumped on earlier this year when it revamped its Cooks Ingredients range to offer more products that people tend to find only in restaurant meals or specialist retailers (ie ramen paste).
However, home cooking doesn’t always mean there’s no room for luxury in the kitchen.
“We believe budgeting shouldn’t mean compromise,” says Waitrose executive director James Bailey. This is why Waitrose recently launched a new £12 dine-in meal deal for two, for those occasions when people don’t want to break the bank at the restaurant but still want to indulge in a meal that feels slightly more special.
Waitrose is recognising tough times for its customers, now omitting pricier ingredients from its online recipes. For example, this lasagne recipe avoids even mentioning butter - which has made headlines in recent months for its massive price rices - and flour to make a béchamel sauce, instead thickening milk into a roux-style sauce with the addition of cornflour.
This 2022/2023 trend is what Waitrose calls “edible escapism” – or treating yourself to an indulgent meal or snack every once in a while to “lift the spirits” amid the current crisis. Of the things that are slipped into the shopping basket, posh crisps and nuts, as well as good quality chocolate or a decadent pudding top the list.
The same goes for alcohol trends. People are choosing to drink less but better alcohol (or none at all, as the growth of low & no shows), Waitrose’s report says. “Just like we’re seeing with food, people are becoming more discerning about their drink choice,” says Pierpaolo Petrassi, Waitrose partner and Master of Wine. It’s led to the rise in premium spirits, including aged drinks such as whisky, brandy and rum, as well as funky new trends like spicy rosé.
Social media chompers
Social media is one of the key sources of inspiration for home cooks all over the country, and TikTok is the undisputable king of recipe videos. But this year, it’s all about the crunch, slurp, chomp and gobble as social media users’ love for noisy food grows in the form of ASMR ‘how to’ cooking videos. Think pizza, bread, ramen, crab legs. The more it tickles, the higher the view count.
@samseats Instant Ramen 🍜 #ramen #noodles #foodtok #foodtiktok #food #fyp ♬ original sound - Sam Way
TikTok and other social media platforms are also where shoppers learn of new tips and tricks to make the most out of their groceries. For instance, the trend #Nextovers helps foodies gather inspiration for turning their surplus ingredients into something completely different the next day (such as mashed potatoes into fish cakes, or houmous into salad dressing). Supermarkets also benefited from the growing popularity of whipped feta, which made a splash on social this year and has contributed to sales of feta increasing by 33% from May to June alone this year.
Health & wellness
One trend that has continued to grow during and post-pandemic is a focus on nutrition, health and wellness. In fact, more than a third of people said they bought a product that promised to deliver a specific health benefit. In line with these shopping habits, Waitrose has seen collective sales of its Holistic Living ranges (Thrive, GoVeggie, PlantLiving, EatFlexi and Gut Health) grow by 74% in the past year. Probiotics and other fermented foods like kimchi are some of shoppers’ favourites – sales of Waitrose Gut Health Natural Kefir Yogurt were up 51%, driven by the rise in gut health awareness.
Environmental concerns have continued to be on people’s minds for the past year, with shoppers and supermarkets alike ramping up efforts to reduce food waste, plastic packaging and CO2 emissions.
Year ahead
Fauxmage (vegan cheese), croissant cubes (a croissant variation in a square shape), deepfake meat, and coffeeless coffee (yes, you read that right) are just some of Waitrose’s trend predictions for 2023.
Each of the statistics in this report compare the year to September 2022 to the previous year unless otherwise stated.
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