Bi-Weekly Chicory Recipe Trends: Week of 9/14/2020

As we dug into the trends in Chicory’s shoppable recipe network over the first two weeks of September, it was clear that the shift from August to September marked a much more dramatic shift in consumer food tastes than we’ve seen over the past few months.

Consumers opted for autumnal spices, apple recipes and hearty comfort foods. This is significant because this past spring and summer marked periods of great unpredictability in consumer habits, but September shows a near-complete return to patterns seen in previous years.

However, brands and retailers alike should stay alert for major changes coming in November and December as holiday hosting season rolls around and consumers once again shake up their habits when they gather--or don’t this year--with family and friends for celebrations.

Apples Are The New Zucchini

The transition from August to September gave many consumers the opportunity to switch their favorite seasonal produce from zucchini, which was the top hit of late summer, to apples, which are currently dominating our charts. Signifying a return to normal, many consumer habits which changed over the spring and summer are now becoming more predictable and in line with patterns seen year over year.

Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Noodle Soup

Apple Pie

Baked Pork Tenderloin

We saw a similar pattern from March through May, as consumers searched for indulgent, hearty recipes to deal with stress and anxiety. At that time, these recipes did double duty, helping consumers cope while also providing opportunities for them to use center store goods like canned veggies and flour that they were buying in bulk. As more of these comfort food recipes take hold going into autumn and the holiday season, brands should expect more consumers than ever before to search for easy ingredient shortcuts, particularly center store products that keep well, like jarred pasta sauce and canned veggies, as easy solutions for classic and favorite holiday dishes. With the stress of the holiday season, online grocery purchases of canned goods grew by 106% from June 2019 to Thanksgiving 2019 and 117% from June 2019 to Christmas 2019.

Warm Spices and Flavors Add a Comforting Kick

Another predictable trend arrived in September--warm spices and flavors like brown sugar, caramel, cinnamon and nutmeg. Consumers are turning to classic fall spices and sweet treats like apple pies, pumpkin shortbreads and cinnamon rolls. It’s the perfect opportunity for brands to align with predictable consumer tastes, particularly during this two month limbo period of September and October right before the holiday season rapidly ramps up.

Cinnamon

Caramel

Nutmeg

Pumpkin

Overall Recipe Traffic

After about a month and a half of consistent recipe traffic, the back-to-school season brought more consumers back to digital recipes. Recipe traffic during the second weekend in September was higher than all weekends in the past quarter, dating back to June. We expect a steady climb through the holiday season.

We can attribute this surge to parents who have children going to school at home-- and this is behavior we observe year in and year out. According to a consumer survey by Chicory, 84% of parents have children attending school from home and 74.32% are cooking more often at home now than this time last year.

For more news and insights from Chicory, sign up for our newsletter here!