Top Grocery Trends By Category
Learn the grocery consumer trends you need to know, aisle by aisle.
Today's time-strapped consumer values extreme convenience. For grocery shoppers, that can look like using digital grocery platforms or grocery delivery services, purchasing premade foods, using shortcut solutions like precut fruits and vegetables, trying meal kits, or even getting more takeout and cooking less.
In fact, by early 2020, grocery industry trends showed that restaurant spending outpaced grocery spending. But when COVID hit, shopping habits changed drastically. More shoppers than ever tried out online grocery shopping — and the convenience of digital grocery platforms became an irreplacable part of the everyday routine.
Today, supermarket trends show that inflation and the cost of living crisis have led consumers to curtail their restaurant spending and start grocery shopping more to eat at home. It’s a quick way to cut back on food costs, even when supply chain issues and inflation have led grocery prices to markedly increase.
But this doesn’t mean shoppers have all flocked back to big box stores — instead, grocery trends are showing that consumers have become omnichannel grocery shoppers.
What’s an omnichannel grocery shopper?
Omnichannel grocery shoppers use both in-person and online methods to complete their grocery shopping. This means they’re buying food in person at supermarkets, but they’re also meal planning and shopping through digital grocery platforms, meal kit services and food delivery apps.
Some shoppers even buy ingredients from the same place they get dinner ideas. 89% of consumers use digital recipes to get meal inspiration, and 83% of people use digital recipes to help build their grocery lists. That’s why savvy grocery brands are starting to place contextual commerce ads on food blogs and within digital recipes.
Read more about the impact of digital recipes → Chicory Annual Recipe Survey
In this article, we’ll cover consumer grocery shopping trends that CPG and grocery companies need to know for 2023 and beyond.
Today’s Omnichannel Shopping Trends
While many consumers tried online grocery shopping in spring 2020 due to fear of in-store shopping early in the pandemic, they’ve kept the habit up due to convenience. In 2022, the leading driver of ordering groceries online in 2022 was convenience and/or time constraints (46%) — today, less than 10% of respondents reported health concerns as their primary reason for ordering groceries online.
Where are people shopping for groceries?
66% of survey respondents reported having purchased groceries online in the past 60 days. 33% reported that they prefer to shop both online and in-store, and 13% reported that they prefer to shop exclusively online.
Once you shop online, it’s hard to forget how easy it is. Of those who buy online groceries, almost 80% are likely to repeat their purchases. The ease of online grocery shopping keeps even those who prefer to shop in-store coming back — 44% of in-store shoppers reported also buying groceries online in the past 60 days.
In order to know how to meet consumers where they are, it’s helpful to know not only where they’re shopping, but what they’re buying — and why. For each of our Category Rundowns, we surveyed ~1,000 people who said they’d ordered groceries online in the past 90 days. That way, we captured information about both die-hard online shoppers as well as omnichannel, occasional online shoppers.
Aisle-by-Aisle Grocery Shopping Trends
We’ll get into all the grocery trends we’ve seen over the past year, walking you through each grocery category, aisle by aisle.
The Produce Section: Consumer Produce Shopping Trends
Produce shopping trends show that buying and preparing fresh fruits and vegetables is one of the most important elements in any meal plan. 55% of people shop for produce every week. Another 22.8% shop for produce every other week, which can require more active meal planning: don’t forget to eat the kale before it wilts this week; the cabbage in the fridge will easily last until next week.
When it comes to choosing what kinds of produce to buy, 55.7% buy a combination of organic and non-organic produce — and only 18% shop exclusively organic. Choosing what to buy and where is largely guided by item taste, how long it will stay fresh and the item’s value.
In the past 30 days, 62% of respondents opted to buy fresh fruits or vegetables online — making these the most popular types of produce. The next most popular item for online produce shopping is salad kits, with 37% of respondents buying them in the past 30 days.
When ranking in-person shopping options, 36% of shoppers shared they prefer to buy produce at supercenters like Walmart and Target, perhaps due to how ubiquitous these supercenters have become all over America. Another 34% of shoppers opt to buy produce at primary grocery stores like Stop & Shop. 17% of shoppers aim to support local small businesses by shopping at farmer’s markets (4%) or local produce, health food or grocery stores (13%).
And though demand for meal prep boxes and grocery delivery services is growing, only 2% shop for produce through grocery delivery box services like Misfits Market.
While some people have the time and energy to prep fruits and veggies, many do not. 35% of respondents use shortcut produce on a weekly or daily basis, including pre-cut fruits and vegetables and salad kits. And when the holidays roll around and it’s time to host, 90% rely on shortcut produce.
When shopping for produce online, 58% are more likely to buy pre-packaged produce than if they were shopping in-store themselves: shoppers likely don’t always trust that a store employee or a delivery person will take enough care to select the best produce.
The most popular fruit recipes online are largely baked goods like pies, cakes and breads. Cocktails and fresh dishes like ceviche also made the top 15. As for vegetables, the most popular recipes were comforting classics like green bean casserole, plus copycat recipes for dishes at Panera and Olive Garden.
Read the full Produce Shopping Trends Report →
The Meat Fridge: Consumer Meat Shopping Trends
All over the country, rising grocery prices have impacted shoppers in a big way — and one of the first sections of the grocery store to feel the pinch is the meat fridge. Meat shopping trends show that when faced with higher meat prices, shoppers are likely to respond by buying meat less frequently (51%) or by buying it in bulk (36%). 21% opt to skip their meat purchase entirely if the price is too high.
However, even in the face of crushing inflation, when asked if they plan to change their meat consumption this year, 55% of respondents said no — they’d be sticking to their current meat consumption habits.
Poultry and beef are the most popular meat purchases, and ground beef is the most popular ingredient by recipe views. And while vegetarianism and veganism continue to grow in popularity, less than 9% of respondents don’t ever buy or eat meat.
But where do shoppers buy meat? We saw that shoppers tend to trust primary grocers like Kroger and Stop & Shop with meat purchases online or in-store, with 44% of the vote. However, more and more people are getting comfortable with buying perishables online, especially products like meat that you can freeze: the majority (57%) of respondents have bought meat online in the past 30 days.
Read the full Meat Shopping Trends Report →
The Dairy Fridge: Milk, Plant-Based Milk and Dairy Alternatives Shopping Trends
Shoppers are now largely comfortable buying their perishable staples, like milk, online — 75% of respondents purchased dairy products online in the past 30 days. In fact, consumers are more likely to buy dairy online as opposed to snacks, candy or starches, which suggests that online grocery shoppers use these services to buy essentials quickly and conveniently.
Parmesan and cream cheese were the most popular cheeses. Whole milk was the most popular milk, signaling that the low-fat craze of the 90s is long behind us. Greek yogurt is the most popular type of yogurt, which goes to show that consumers are continuing to look for simpler, natural, more homestyle products.
45% of shoppers bought dairy alternatives, and plant-based milk is the most popular dairy alternative, with almond milk and soy milk being the most frequently purchased. But oat milk is coming for the throne, with 268% year-over-year growth.
However, 86% of shoppers who bought dairy alternatives also bought traditional dairy products, indicating that dairy alternative purchases don’t mean a completely dairy-free lifestyle. For example, someone may prefer oat milk, but they’d never forgo butter. Or one family member drinks almond milk, but the rest drink cream in their coffee. More on plant-based foods in the next aisle.
Read the full Dairy Shopping Trends Report →
The Plant-Based Foods Fridge: Consumer Plant-Based Food Shopping Trends
Many consumers are experimenting with cutting back on animal products, like dairy, meat and eggs, for a variety of reasons. 60% adopt this diet for health reasons, and 30% cited that rising meat costs led them to cut back on animal products. Whatever their reasons may be, 43% of online grocery shoppers reported that they eat plant-based some of the time or all of the time.
Once they start trying out different plant-based products, consumers have strong opinions about which brands they like. 40% of respondents choose which plant-based brand to purchase while they’re building their shopping list, and 32% decide as they’re meal planning. Less than 25% of shoppers select their plant-based brands while shopping.
A whopping 90% of plant-based eaters use digital recipes to figure out what to eat — the highest of all the grocery categories we surveyed. Alternative diets require additional planning, substitutions and a little more creativity, so online recipes and blogs can be extremely helpful. This is a great opportunity for plant-based brands to try out contextual commerce and advertise their products in recipes that call for alternatives.
Read the full Plant-Based Shopping Trends Report →
The Grains Aisle: Consumer Bread, Pasta, and Cereal Shopping Trends
One thing is abundantly clear when we did our survey to find bread and cereal shopping trends: people love carbs. 96% of shoppers will be incorporating any grains or starches in their grocery purchases this month.
Unsurprisingly, pasta and bread are in first and second place of most popular grains; quinoa and buckwheat are the least popular. However, there appears to be a pretty even distribution between items, suggesting that shoppers’ carts often contain several forms of grains and starches at one time.
Despite the huge popularity of the gluten-free lifestyle over the past decade, the majority (71%) of online grocery shoppers do eat gluten. 17% sometimes purchase or eat gluten-free items, but only 12% follow a strict gluten-free diet. And while those with Celiac disease do very much need to avoid gluten at all costs, it looks like the gluten-free weight loss craze is winding down: “Gluten-free” recipes declined in popularity in 2021 in comparison to the two previous years.
73% of online grocery shoppers buy grains online, but since grains and starches are typically bought in bulk and are more shelf-stable than dairy or snacks, they likely need to be re-purchased less frequently.
Read the full Grains Shopping Trends Report →
The Baking Aisle: Current Baking Trends
When surveying consumers to identify today’s baking shopping trends, we found that approximately 74% of online grocery shoppers have purchased baking supplies online in the past 30 days, and of those, nearly 50% bake at least weekly.
While most bakers said they bake at home because they love the taste of homemade baked goods and get joy out of the process, current trends in baking show that it’s not just a labor of love: 40% of respondents said they’ve been baking more lately as a cost-saving measure due to the inflation crisis. Homemade baked goods will almost always be cheaper than buying them pre-made.
When deciding what kind of recipe to make — and how much time and effort a baker wants to put into it — bakers have a choice: do they bake from scratch, or use baking shortcuts? We found that only 25% of online grocery shoppers bake completely from scratch. The remaining 75% use a combination of scratch and shortcut methods, or exclusively shortcut methods (like cake mixes).
56% of respondents swap ingredients for alternative or healthier options when they bake, like substituting stevia for sugar. 24% of bakers make swaps every time they bake, with bakers veganizing recipes and trying to reduce sugar, carbs, fat or salt.
88% of those who have bought baking supplies online use digital recipes to figure out what to make, so baked goods recipes are a great place for retailers to start including shoppable links.
Read the full Baking Shopping Trends Report →
The Candy and Snacks Aisle: Consumer Snack Trends
Snack and candy shopping trends show that just about everybody loves a little treat: About 80% of online grocery shoppers have purchased snacks or pre-made sweets online in the past 30 days. Only less than 2% of online shoppers never purchase snacks or pre-made sweets.
Shoppers prefer to purchase snacks and sweets at the same time and in the same place that they purchase the rest of their groceries — adding something delicious to their existing basket. Shoppers don’t really place online orders for just snacks and sweets, but they’re very likely to add them to the rest of their grocery orders.
Snack food shopping trends show that people enjoy salty and sweet snacks almost equally, but salty, crunchy chips and pretzels (combined) were the #1 most popular snack purchase. Pre-made cookies were the #1 ingredient snack purchase. It makes sense, as many elaborate desserts use store-bought cookies to drastically reduce time spent prepping. For example, store-bought vanilla wafers are an important part of almost every banana pudding recipe.
Read the full Candy and Snacks Shopping Trends Report →
The Alcoholic Beverages Aisle: Consumer Alcohol Shopping Trends
Alcohol is an incredibly popular grocery item: 90% of shoppers buy alcohol at least monthly, and 37% do so at least weekly. Though shoppers primarily use liquor stores and grocery stores to buy alcohol, 10% indicated that they use delivery apps or online subscription services. And one third (28%) reported increasing their usage of digital shopping tools for alcohol purchases — the convenience of buying alcohol online is greatly appreciated.
Wine is the most popular online alcohol purchase, followed closely by beer. Wine is also the most popular alcohol to drink and to cook with. White wine saw the most views within recipes, often featured in delicious, decadent recipes like fondue.
Though alcohol-based recipes peak around the holidays every year, they’ve shown strong growth over the past two years — perhaps due to the pandemic’s push for people to learn to make cocktails at home.
Though only 5% of respondents say they have purchased non-alcoholic beverages, recipe views featuring non-alcoholic beer have gone up 736% from February 2019 to February 2022, — signaling the rise of the sober-curious shopper. Given increasing evidence of the harm of long-term, regular alcohol drinking, many Millennial and Gen Z shoppers are opting to cut back.
Read the full Alcohol Shopping Trends Report →
Tracking grocery shopping trends can help your brand stay relevant
The grocery shopping landscape is always changing. What was flying off the shelves one week may sit untouched for weeks the next year. And when presented with an easier, quicker way to shop, consumers are open to seeing if a new platform can shave precious minutes off their typical shopping time.
That’s why digital grocery platforms are steadily growing in popularity. Grocery stores and food retailers are improving their ecommerce interfaces and user experiences across platforms — from investing in a dedicated online shopping website to welcoming in-store shoppers with open arms. Taking an omnichannel approach lets you meet shoppers where they are, and get more of their business.
Meeting shoppers where they are includes the meal-planning moment. By promoting your CPG products using contextual commerce ads within digital recipes and food blogs, especially in high-demand recipe categories like baking and plant-based alternatives, consumers can instantly start an online basket at your preferred partner store while they’re inspired and ready to cook.
Shoppable recipes take an already expedited process and make it even simpler. As consumers begin to tackle their food-related New Year’s resolutions, they’ll be even more apt to click “purchase” on new recipes to start the year off right. Make sure you’re ready when they are!
Learn more about how digital recipes can impact digital grocery platforms → Chicory Annual Recipe Survey
