During the Coronavirus pandemic, distribution channels in packaged food have been significantly affected. Consumers sought convenient channels to purchase essential food in 2020. As a result, e-commerce thrived by meeting consumers’ needs such as safely delivering chilled fresh food on time. The distribution channel landscape in packaged food is expected to show dramatic change over the forecast period as e-commerce continues its rapid development.
This report comes in PPT.
Packaged food recorded strong performance in 2020 due to shutdown of the foodservice channel, thus consumers stockpiled food and shifted to cooking at home during the lockdown period. The new normal in terms of eating changed where consumers shop for packaged food.
Store-based grocery retailers saw share growth, but hypermarkets and warehouse clubs which specialise in larger baskets showed better performance than convenience stores and food specialists. Impulse purchasing of single-portion products - mainly distributed via small-sized grocery retailers - was significantly affected because consumers are unable to eat on-the-go formats during the pandemic.
E-commerce in packaged food recorded dramatic growth during the pandemic as contactless shopping is preferred. Consumers were unable go out during lockdowns, so placing orders for products online and receiving them through home delivery become a new facet of normal life.
Alibaba Group Holding maintained its position as the leading company in global e-commerce with eight brands by responding quickly to emergency situations, for example providing Taobao Live for free to merchants, and expanded its influence. Amazon also expanded its brand equity as a global e-commerce leader in 2020.
Total packaged food sales are expected to temporarily decline in 2021 as consumers return to dining out as the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic eases. In the following years, the market will be stable with modest growth. E-commerce, however, will continue to benefit as consumers realise the benefits of shopping online.
In packaged food we consider two aspects of food sales: 1) Retail sales. 2) Foodservice. Retail sales is defined as sales through establishments primarily engaged in the sale of fresh, packaged and prepared foods for home preparation and consumption. This excludes hotels, restaurant, cafés, duty free sales and institutional sales (canteens, prisons/jails, hospitals, army, etc). Our retail definition EXCLUDES the purchase of food products from foodservice outlets for consumption off-premises, eg impulse confectionery bought from counters of cafés/bars. This falls under foodservice sales. For foodservice, we capture all sales to foodservice outlets, regardless of whether the products are eventually consumed on-premise or off-premise. Foodservice sales is defined as sales to consumer foodservice outlets that serve the general public in a non-captive environment. Outlets include cafés/bars, FSR (full-service restaurants), fast food, 100% home delivery/takeaway, self-service cafeterias and street stalls/kiosks. Sales to semicaptive foodservice outlets are also included. This describes outlets located in leisure, travel and retail environments. 1) Retail refers to units located in retail outlets such as department stores, shopping malls, shopping centres, super/hypermarkets etc. 2) Leisure refers to units located in leisure establishments such as museums, health clubs, cinemas, theatres, theme parks and sports stadiums. 3) Travel refers to units located in based in airports, rail stations, coach stations, motorway service stations offering gas facilities etc. Beyond the scope of the foodservice research are captive foodservice units that serve captive populations around institutions such as hospitals, schools, and prisons. This is also known as institutional sales.
See All of Our DefinitionsIf you purchase a report that is updated in the next 60 days, we will send you the new edition and data extraction Free!