The pandemic, of course, changed everything. And as the world emerged from the COVID-19 crisis, as pandemic restrictions fell away, some consumer attitudes and behaviors have reverted back to pre-pandemic levels, while others have remained for the long term. 

Datassential’s America in Transition keynote report takes a look at these shifts in meals and consumers’ willingness to try new foods (both in home and at restaurants/retail,) diet and health, budgets, technology, and more for U.S. consumers. 

Here’s a look at how life has (and hasn’t) changed for U.S. consumers: 

Far fewer grocery trips, but more planning ahead

One clear way consumers changed in the pandemic that has held up well beyond it: Grocery shopping at far fewer stores every month to get what they need. 

Before the pandemic, in November 2017, consumers reported shopping for groceries at an average of 8 different stores, from specialty markets and bakeries to traditional grocery stores to online sites like Amazon. Now, consumers average just 2.9 – not much more than the 2.7 average consumers reported in the midst of the pandemic, in October 2021. It seems consumers grew accustomed to consolidating grocery trips amidst fears and restrictions, and those habits of getting more in one fell swoop persist today. 

On the flip side, consumers appear to be making fewer last-second decisions on where and what to eat – a habit that increased during the pandemic. 

Twenty-nine percent of consumers report their last meal at home was a last-second decision – about the same as the 30% that reported that in November 2017, yet far lower than the 39% of respondents that said the same in October 2021. 

Meals away-from-home grew slightly during the pandemic as consumers craved comfort and have now more recently dropped again in the wake of inflation.

Away from home, 36% of consumers say their last meal was a last-second decision, compared with 38% pre-pandemic and 45% during the pandemic.

Trying new foods, with a dash of familiar

Consumers are trying more new-to-them foods compared with both during and pre-pandemic, but they prefer them in conjunction with a familiar item. 

Consumers are still most likely to report having eaten all familiar items for their last meal, whether at home or out at a restaurant or foodservice location – but this number is shrinking, and now, almost half of consumers had at least some new elements in their last away-from-home meal.

At the same time, consumers have returned to a pre-pandemic desire to eat new foods in familiar ways – and fewer say they love to try completely new foods than they did in 2017. This illustrates that the consumer appetite for innovation is growing, but new foods and flavors that don’t stray too far off from old favorites are going to appeal to the most consumers.

Less likely to diet, and to call themselves fit

If you want to bet that a lot of the fitness routines (and expensive equipment) consumers picked up during the pandemic have slowed, if not stopped, you’d be right. 

Only 8% of consumers now say they follow a strict, specific diet, compared with 19% in October 2021. And fewer consumers also consider themselves very fit: just 19% compared with 30% during the pandemic. 

Participation in diets of every type has declined since 2021, and consumers are a little less interested in all healthy attributes (even well-established trends like gluten-free) than they were several years ago. 

So what do consumers still care about, health-wise? 

High protein has become the top healthy attribute of interest, followed by richness in vitamins/minerals, and healthy fats. Flexitarian diets have grown slightly. Low sugar is the top dietary practice followed by consumers, more than low-carb diets that were a focus in the past. 

Desire for premium + penny pinching

Consumers are increasingly budgeting for food and increasingly visiting discount grocery venues today. And half of consumers report having limited food purchases due to not having enough money. 

When it comes to takeout, almost half of consumers are being creative when it comes to watching their dollars, by either supplementing their pickup/delivery meals by making part of the meal at home, or ordering enough food for leftovers to make delivery fees worthwhile.

But penny-pinching only goes so far. Consumers still want to spend money on quality, and fewer are limiting their premium purchases. 

At grocery stores, more than half of consumers seek out and purchase premium products across a range of categories, from dairy to deli to breakfast foods. And 7 in 10 consumers look for premium produce. Even in the age of rising food prices and high inflation, consumers will still respond to quality when they see it.

Increasing desire for technology

Consumers’ preference for automation in the grocery checkout – including self-checkout and other tech that can streamline the process – has steadily progressed. 

More than half of consumers now prefer grocery self-checkout over going through a checkout line with a cashier. For younger consumers, this preference jumps to 7 in 10. 

Younger generations, digital natives, also lead the demand for kiosk or tablet ordering at restaurants: 43% of Gen Z preferring contactless ordering. And Millennials are the top generation to find AI-created recipes appealing, with nearly half of those surveyed liking the idea. 

Online grocery shopping is also on the rise, with over half of Millennials having gotten traditional groceries through online delivery in the past month.

Speed and convenience are still in

Just as consumers are more comfortable with technology if it makes their grocery trips easier, restaurants and retail outlets known for convenience are also seeing growth in visits. 

Both high-end quick service or fast-casual restaurants (like Panera, Chipotle, etc.) and convenience stores saw a jump in delivery with the onset of the pandemic. Fast-casual has continued this strong growth while c-stores have seen slight growth in delivery frequency.

When visitation dropped for fast casual (and most restaurant segments) during the pandemic, c-stores saw the reverse: traffic increased as consumers grabbed quick meals on the go. Both fast casual and c-stores have seen visitation continue to improve this year, with one-third of consumers saying they visited each in the past month.

More meat and less meeting

The definition of well-being has evolved in many ways since before the pandemic. Consumers put a premium on emotional/mental health, finances and physical health, but rank social relationships, spirituality/religion and cultural identity/community as less important. Those three segments have declined most in consumers’ rankings of important factors in well-being. 

When looking at diets, plant-based habits have declined, with many more consumers reporting to be meat eaters, in the midst of inflation and decreasing health concerns. And as the report found, consumers are willing to pay a premium for meat/seafood and other special items, and their willingness to pay for certain premium attributes or healthy food trend related words like “organic,” “locally sourced” and “no artificial ingredients” is generally lower than during the pandemic, but higher than before. 

So while a lot about consumers’ attitudes and behaviors remain similar to before the pandemic, some resemble that heralded “new normal.” For foodservice professionals, the key to take advantage of new consumer attitudes is to provide solid value, and ensure high quality when asking for a premium price. Savvy consumers will reward you for it.

Samantha Des Jardins is the Content Marketing Manager at Datassential.

There is so much more to discover about consumers’ attitudes and behaviors and how they’ve evolved. Subscribers can log into SNAP for access. Not a subscriber? Follow the link for more information or to get your copy of the America in Transition keynote report.