Recent shift in consumer consumption, more than just financial motivation.
I write a weekly article for my company newsletter that I thought you all might find interesting. I am not so secretly trying to change the world one box of pasta at a time. :o) Let me know what you think.
There have been several recent reports about consumer demand and consumption shifts across retail channels. Consumers are cutting back at the mall, the home improvement store, online shopping as well as the grocery store which from a sustainability standpoint is good news. Some estimates show humanity's current ecological footprint is 57 acres per person while the Earth's biological capacity is only 41 acres per person. The current global financial situation has been a catalyst for consumer consumption reduction as well as a somewhat unexpected moral driving force for “less.”
Some retailers have begun to recognize consumers reduced consumption isn’t only a household financial survival method; it’s also as moral rebuttal to their recent past excessive lifestyles. The 1990’s and 2000’s were filled with big cars, big houses, big credit accounts all of which resulted in less sustainable and more neglectful eco-lifestyles. A positive result from the current global financial situation is more consumers have a heightened consumption consciousness which results in less environmental impact and ecological strain. When gas prices rose to $4 a gallon people drove less, carpooled more often and were more calculating and organized with their fuel consumption. The same can be said when commodity food prices rose consumers cut back on convenience and/or pre-packed foods and returned to the kitchen with their families.
Our retail partners have an opportunity to capitalize on consumers financial and moral appetite for “less.” We can help our retail partner by communicating store brand as a financial savings as well as a modest return to family traditions around the dinner table. Our retailer partners should remind their consumers that food is more than sustenance; food and food consumption are rituals. Rituals such as mom cooking my favorite spaghetti dinner using Lowes Foods pasta and World Classic Trading Company pasta sauce are rituals that will embed themselves in the minds of tomorrow’s consumers and will be repeated for years to come. Store brands need to position themselves directly at the center of the modern consumer’s financial and moral ritual appetite for less in order to win a place in their minds, hearts and wallets all without compromising the planet.
There have been several recent reports about consumer demand and consumption shifts across retail channels. Consumers are cutting back at the mall, the home improvement store, online shopping as well as the grocery store which from a sustainability standpoint is good news. Some estimates show humanity's current ecological footprint is 57 acres per person while the Earth's biological capacity is only 41 acres per person. The current global financial situation has been a catalyst for consumer consumption reduction as well as a somewhat unexpected moral driving force for “less.”
Some retailers have begun to recognize consumers reduced consumption isn’t only a household financial survival method; it’s also as moral rebuttal to their recent past excessive lifestyles. The 1990’s and 2000’s were filled with big cars, big houses, big credit accounts all of which resulted in less sustainable and more neglectful eco-lifestyles. A positive result from the current global financial situation is more consumers have a heightened consumption consciousness which results in less environmental impact and ecological strain. When gas prices rose to $4 a gallon people drove less, carpooled more often and were more calculating and organized with their fuel consumption. The same can be said when commodity food prices rose consumers cut back on convenience and/or pre-packed foods and returned to the kitchen with their families.
Our retail partners have an opportunity to capitalize on consumers financial and moral appetite for “less.” We can help our retail partner by communicating store brand as a financial savings as well as a modest return to family traditions around the dinner table. Our retailer partners should remind their consumers that food is more than sustenance; food and food consumption are rituals. Rituals such as mom cooking my favorite spaghetti dinner using Lowes Foods pasta and World Classic Trading Company pasta sauce are rituals that will embed themselves in the minds of tomorrow’s consumers and will be repeated for years to come. Store brands need to position themselves directly at the center of the modern consumer’s financial and moral ritual appetite for less in order to win a place in their minds, hearts and wallets all without compromising the planet.
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