Ecommerce, CPG and consumer Insights for the Online Grocery Community

We dug into the trends in our recipe network to look forward to Christmas food trends and found some interesting patterns emerging this month. Some new patterns emerge (consumers leaning into seafood instead of their usual pork and beef, particularly in stews and soups) and some yearly classics make their way out of the woodwork (cookie recipes dominating Christmas).

Over the course of 2020, Chicory’s utilized data from our shoppable recipe network to explore how consumer food trends and grocery shopping habits shifted or remained the same, and how recurring seasonal trends and yearly holiday celebrations were impacted by COVID-19. Now, we’re excited to release our predictions for how food and shopping trends will play out in 2021.

We dug into the trends in our recipe network to look forward to Christmas food trends and found some interesting patterns emerging this month. Some new patterns emerge (consumers leaning into seafood instead of their usual pork and beef, particularly in stews and soups) and some yearly classics make their way out of the woodwork (cookie recipes dominating Christmas).

How did Thanksgiving, the largest week for recipes, fare in the Chicory network? We dug into our data to derive insights on how Thanksgiving 2020 differed -- and, actually didn’t differ all that much -- from years past.

The period from October 27th to November 9th, 2020 included major cultural and political events in the United States, including Halloween and the 2020 presidential election. Chicory’s shoppable recipe network indicated that more consumers celebrated Halloween through food than ever before, consumers’ eating habits were filled with stress eating and consumers are gearing up for Christmas early.

As we approach the final weeks of October, typical autumn food trends explode as consumers anticipate Halloween and take advantage of seasonal produce like winter squash and root vegetables.

The first weeks of October typically mark an observable shift in consumer behavior. Pumpkins, apples, nutmeg and cinnamon are out in full force, porches are decorated with autumn-themed and spooky decor and classic fall activities are packed with families, couples and friends looking to spend a day among the color-changing leaves.

As we continue through the second half of September, we explored the recipe, ingredient and food trends across Chicory’s shoppable recipe network to identify how consumer habits and behaviors are changing during this seasonal shift.

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.

In a year unlike any other, we examined changes over the past two weeks in recipe engagement and online grocery orders within our shoppable recipe network to determine if and how consumers are changing their habits now that fall is here. The data shows that many shoppers are returning to old habits that were pushed aside since March 2020 and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The end of summer and the start of the cooler fall season typically marks a major shift in trends in Chicory’s shoppable recipe network. Typically, a “return to routine” and the back-to-school season mean greater views and orders across our recipe network, but in an anything-but-ordinary year where engagement has surged since March, past years’ trends are no longer the norm.

As we approach the fall season, nearly five months of life indoors and at home, we explored the trends in our shoppable recipe network to determine how recipe usage and online grocery ordering behavior changed over the past two weeks.