Significant changes are taking place in the way people live, how they shop and their cooking and eating habits.

There is a growing UK population driven by a rise in fertility rates and an increase in life expectancy resulting in more older people. Since the 1970s there has also been an increasing trend towards smaller household sizes and a growth in the proportion of women in employment

More recently, the impact of the recession has meant that shoppers have been economising by investing more time in food preparation, claiming to be cooking from scratch and eating at home more.

Changing shopper profile and needs will pose challenges and opportunities for both retailers and suppliers in meeting mealtime requirements.

How are these changes in consumption impacting how people shop for different meal occasions? With an increase in single person households, to what extent is a decline in traditional meal times impacting shopper behaviour in-store?

Meal Occasions – Appealing to changes in shopper behaviour will help you to:

1. Understand how changes in lifestyle and cooking skills are impacting on food preparation
   
   
2. Identify the key drivers when shopping for different meal occasions
   
   
3. Adapt ranging, promotions and merchandising to meet the meal occasion requirements of shoppers
   
   
4. Influence shoppers at point of sale to purchase products for specific meal occasions