The trend for healthy nutrition is growing continuously. Therefore, the offer of products contributing to everyday self-care is important in every store. Consumers are reading the labels increasingly and are filling their shopping carts with products which have the shortest ingredient lists possible, guaranteeing the best choice.
On store shelves, we increasingly look for products with less sugar, or sweetened with such ingredients as stevia; plant substitutes for meat, lactose-free dairy, or gluten-free snacks are also gaining popularity. The composition matters as well, so food labels are under close scrutiny of the buyers.
We choose low-fat products, eat less meat, more vegetables and fruit, we avoid highly processed foods, fast food, or unhealthy snacks and “empty” calories. The rule is simple: healthy eating means healthy buying.
What should a retailer do then? The way is to expand the shelf with products sought after by conscious consumers. Introduce fresh fruit and vegetables to stores, especially seasonal ones, make sure that customers, during their everyday shopping, also find products with health-promoting properties, in a fit version, or with a short label and will not be forced to look for them in specialist healthy food stores.
Clean Label
The idea of clean label and promotional actions based on this concept fit into the growing interest in health and wellbeing, and also respond to the needs connected with simplicity of choice and quickness in making shopping decisions.
Analysis of Mintel’s consumer data shows that respondents in Poland usually mention naturalness of ingredients as the leading shopping attribute within food categories (42%), with the following positions occupied by: a source of vitamins and minerals (37%) and low sugar content (32%). “Furthermore, it is worth stressing that almost a third of all Poles (30%) claim they are confounded by too much information on foodstuff packages. The percentage of positive answers is growing with age, reaching as much as 50% in the 65+ group. Therefore, further streamlining actions are necessary, in the context of both recipes and communication – such actions are of particular importance from the viewpoint of the needs of more mature recipients,” adds Honorata Jarocka, Principal Analyst at Mintel.
The data from Mintel’s Global New Products Database (GNPD) show that over the last year (May 2022 – April 2023), 16% of new Polish products in the category of food declared lowered/zero content of allergens, whereas 14% of them had a “vegan” statement. Similarly, packages of 14% of new products stressed information on absence of additives/preservatives. On the other hand, 13% of new products introduced in the period under analysis bore the “organic” statement; 13% of them were gluten-free as well.
Honorata Jarocka sums up that, considering the consumer needs, there is further potential for investments aimed at simplicity and naturalness – with emphasis on simple and easily understood ingredient lists, as well as the offered benefits. These should be clear messages the number and complexity of which fits the “less is more” principle.
Meat Alternatives
As a healthy alternative to meat products, all sorts of their plant substitutes are often perceived – the growing sales of this category is ensured, above all, by discount stores. Such outlets have generated a turnover of as much as 69% of the entire category in 2022, while hypermarkets accounted for 15%, and supermarkets as well as small-area stores up to 300 m2 – for 8% each.
Today, plant substitutes of meat, such as hummus, vegetable spreads, kabanos sausages, meatballs, burgers, etc. can be found in 4 out of 10 of all stores in Poland, whereas discount stores are where such products are definitely easiest to find.
Nikodem Pankowiak, Sales Data Analyst at CMR, says that the sales value of this category in 2022 at all stores in Poland grew by as much as 35% in comparison with 2021. The fastest growth rate is demonstrated by vegetable cutlets and meatballs, the sales value of which has almost doubled over the year. Other categories growing at a fast pace include vegetable burgers. However, it is still hummus that accounts for almost 40% of the sales value of the entire category.
It is worth noticing the prices of individual plant meat substitute categories are growing at a definitely slower pace than of their meat counterparts, often not even reaching the inflation level.
“However, one should still keep in mind that, in comparison with meat categories, plant substitutes remain a niche category. For instance, vegetable kabanos sausages in 2022 only comprised 2% of all kabanos packages sold at stores in Poland – a result almost identical as the year before. Which should not be surprising; the larger a locality, the more interest in vegetable products. Thus, in localities with up to 10,000 inhabitants, plant kabanos sausages only comprised 1% of all sold kabanos packages, whereas in the 6 largest cities in Poland, they accounted for more than 3%,” Nikodem Pankowiak adds.
The Eco-Pole
Inflation and growing prices do not discourage Poles from reaching for ecologic products. Quite the opposite, the interest in such foods, cosmetics and clothing is maintained. This is evident from consumer polls conducted by shopping malls: Nowe Czyżyny in Cracow and Nowe Bielawy in Toruń. Both venues asked their customers about their current attitude to eco products. As much as 75% of customers shopping at malls declared that their baskets regularly include goods marked by producers as ecological or bio. In this group, 84% usually focus on foodstuffs.
The reason? 65% believe such food is healthier. 25%, on the other hand, choose it due to better quality, and 20% – for the sake of the natural environment. For 16%, it is a significant component of everyday diet, whereas more than 10% claim eco and bio foodstuffs are simply tastier.
Marta Drzewiecka from Greenman Poland stresses that a significant increase in consumer awareness has been noticed over the last 5 years, especially with regard to the foodstuffs that are leading in the shopping eco-trend in Poland today. “The Polish people do their shopping with increasing responsibility. They pay attention to the origin of the goods, their composition, the awarded eco-certificates that, according to claims of the Polish Chamber of Ecologic Food, have already become important to more than 74% of the shoppers, as well as to whether the purchased product has been manufactured in a sustainable manner, i.e. with no harm to the environment and ecosystem,” she adds.
This consumer trend will undergo further development. Especially that inflation does not make people abandon the purchases completely. As we can read from poll results, almost every third person purchasing foods marked as eco or bio only intends a slight reduction of expenses on such products. Almost 30% do not plan on changing anything in their habits.
How do the Poles eat and what do they buy?
The study of the National Nutrition Test of Polish People in 2022* shows that consumers usually have meat meals (31%), balanced in accordance with the food pyramid (20%). Importantly, 46% of meat-eating Poles consider reducing meat in the near future, with 5% strongly determined to do so. People deciding to take a vegetarian or vegan diet mention three major reasons: they feel better on a meatless diet (44%), they do not want to contribute to the killing of animals (41%), they care for the environment (28%).
Most Polish people control the content of foodstuffs they purchase. It turns out some ingredients particularly discourage the Poles from buying. They include preservatives (e.g. sodium benzoate, sulphur dioxide, etc.), as well as palm oil, discouraging slightly over a half of all Poles, as well as flavour enhancers (such as sodium glutamate) – discouraging 47% of people from purchase. Sugar discourages 38% shoppers from buying a product, the percentage against any E additives is 34%, and for the addition of salt, it is 13%.
During grocery shopping, the most important thing to Polish people is the content of products (declared on average by 55% of the survey) and their price (important to 43% of the survey). Factors with much lower impact on shopping decisions include the appearance of the product and the country of origin. 16% of people had difficulties stating to what they pay most attention while shopping. These preferences do not differ much between genders. The higher the age, the lesser the role of the product price in making shopping decisions. On the other hand, the role of the country of origin of a product is distinctly growing.
The health aspects of food gain on importance while shopping. The Poles know the essential “healthy” principles to follow when choosing a food offer. They know proper nutrition starts from a properly made shopping list, and consequently – from conscious shopping.
Monika Górka,
Deputy Editor-in-Chief
On store shelves, we increasingly look for products with less sugar, or sweetened with such ingredients as stevia; plant substitutes for meat, lactose-free dairy, or gluten-free snacks are also gaining popularity. The composition matters as well, so food labels are under close scrutiny of the buyers.
We choose low-fat products, eat less meat, more vegetables and fruit, we avoid highly processed foods, fast food, or unhealthy snacks and “empty” calories. The rule is simple: healthy eating means healthy buying.
What should a retailer do then? The way is to expand the shelf with products sought after by conscious consumers. Introduce fresh fruit and vegetables to stores, especially seasonal ones, make sure that customers, during their everyday shopping, also find products with health-promoting properties, in a fit version, or with a short label and will not be forced to look for them in specialist healthy food stores.
Clean Label
The idea of clean label and promotional actions based on this concept fit into the growing interest in health and wellbeing, and also respond to the needs connected with simplicity of choice and quickness in making shopping decisions.
Analysis of Mintel’s consumer data shows that respondents in Poland usually mention naturalness of ingredients as the leading shopping attribute within food categories (42%), with the following positions occupied by: a source of vitamins and minerals (37%) and low sugar content (32%). “Furthermore, it is worth stressing that almost a third of all Poles (30%) claim they are confounded by too much information on foodstuff packages. The percentage of positive answers is growing with age, reaching as much as 50% in the 65+ group. Therefore, further streamlining actions are necessary, in the context of both recipes and communication – such actions are of particular importance from the viewpoint of the needs of more mature recipients,” adds Honorata Jarocka, Principal Analyst at Mintel.
The data from Mintel’s Global New Products Database (GNPD) show that over the last year (May 2022 – April 2023), 16% of new Polish products in the category of food declared lowered/zero content of allergens, whereas 14% of them had a “vegan” statement. Similarly, packages of 14% of new products stressed information on absence of additives/preservatives. On the other hand, 13% of new products introduced in the period under analysis bore the “organic” statement; 13% of them were gluten-free as well.
Honorata Jarocka sums up that, considering the consumer needs, there is further potential for investments aimed at simplicity and naturalness – with emphasis on simple and easily understood ingredient lists, as well as the offered benefits. These should be clear messages the number and complexity of which fits the “less is more” principle.
Meat Alternatives
As a healthy alternative to meat products, all sorts of their plant substitutes are often perceived – the growing sales of this category is ensured, above all, by discount stores. Such outlets have generated a turnover of as much as 69% of the entire category in 2022, while hypermarkets accounted for 15%, and supermarkets as well as small-area stores up to 300 m2 – for 8% each.
Today, plant substitutes of meat, such as hummus, vegetable spreads, kabanos sausages, meatballs, burgers, etc. can be found in 4 out of 10 of all stores in Poland, whereas discount stores are where such products are definitely easiest to find.
Nikodem Pankowiak, Sales Data Analyst at CMR, says that the sales value of this category in 2022 at all stores in Poland grew by as much as 35% in comparison with 2021. The fastest growth rate is demonstrated by vegetable cutlets and meatballs, the sales value of which has almost doubled over the year. Other categories growing at a fast pace include vegetable burgers. However, it is still hummus that accounts for almost 40% of the sales value of the entire category.
It is worth noticing the prices of individual plant meat substitute categories are growing at a definitely slower pace than of their meat counterparts, often not even reaching the inflation level.
“However, one should still keep in mind that, in comparison with meat categories, plant substitutes remain a niche category. For instance, vegetable kabanos sausages in 2022 only comprised 2% of all kabanos packages sold at stores in Poland – a result almost identical as the year before. Which should not be surprising; the larger a locality, the more interest in vegetable products. Thus, in localities with up to 10,000 inhabitants, plant kabanos sausages only comprised 1% of all sold kabanos packages, whereas in the 6 largest cities in Poland, they accounted for more than 3%,” Nikodem Pankowiak adds.
The Eco-Pole
Inflation and growing prices do not discourage Poles from reaching for ecologic products. Quite the opposite, the interest in such foods, cosmetics and clothing is maintained. This is evident from consumer polls conducted by shopping malls: Nowe Czyżyny in Cracow and Nowe Bielawy in Toruń. Both venues asked their customers about their current attitude to eco products. As much as 75% of customers shopping at malls declared that their baskets regularly include goods marked by producers as ecological or bio. In this group, 84% usually focus on foodstuffs.
The reason? 65% believe such food is healthier. 25%, on the other hand, choose it due to better quality, and 20% – for the sake of the natural environment. For 16%, it is a significant component of everyday diet, whereas more than 10% claim eco and bio foodstuffs are simply tastier.
Marta Drzewiecka from Greenman Poland stresses that a significant increase in consumer awareness has been noticed over the last 5 years, especially with regard to the foodstuffs that are leading in the shopping eco-trend in Poland today. “The Polish people do their shopping with increasing responsibility. They pay attention to the origin of the goods, their composition, the awarded eco-certificates that, according to claims of the Polish Chamber of Ecologic Food, have already become important to more than 74% of the shoppers, as well as to whether the purchased product has been manufactured in a sustainable manner, i.e. with no harm to the environment and ecosystem,” she adds.
This consumer trend will undergo further development. Especially that inflation does not make people abandon the purchases completely. As we can read from poll results, almost every third person purchasing foods marked as eco or bio only intends a slight reduction of expenses on such products. Almost 30% do not plan on changing anything in their habits.
How do the Poles eat and what do they buy?
The study of the National Nutrition Test of Polish People in 2022* shows that consumers usually have meat meals (31%), balanced in accordance with the food pyramid (20%). Importantly, 46% of meat-eating Poles consider reducing meat in the near future, with 5% strongly determined to do so. People deciding to take a vegetarian or vegan diet mention three major reasons: they feel better on a meatless diet (44%), they do not want to contribute to the killing of animals (41%), they care for the environment (28%).
Most Polish people control the content of foodstuffs they purchase. It turns out some ingredients particularly discourage the Poles from buying. They include preservatives (e.g. sodium benzoate, sulphur dioxide, etc.), as well as palm oil, discouraging slightly over a half of all Poles, as well as flavour enhancers (such as sodium glutamate) – discouraging 47% of people from purchase. Sugar discourages 38% shoppers from buying a product, the percentage against any E additives is 34%, and for the addition of salt, it is 13%.
During grocery shopping, the most important thing to Polish people is the content of products (declared on average by 55% of the survey) and their price (important to 43% of the survey). Factors with much lower impact on shopping decisions include the appearance of the product and the country of origin. 16% of people had difficulties stating to what they pay most attention while shopping. These preferences do not differ much between genders. The higher the age, the lesser the role of the product price in making shopping decisions. On the other hand, the role of the country of origin of a product is distinctly growing.
The health aspects of food gain on importance while shopping. The Poles know the essential “healthy” principles to follow when choosing a food offer. They know proper nutrition starts from a properly made shopping list, and consequently – from conscious shopping.
Monika Górka,
Deputy Editor-in-Chief
