42|Retail News|January / February 2020|www.retailnews.ie
The Future of Grocery
What will the ’20s bring?
Steve Gotham, MCA & HIM Market Insight Director, examines the potential implications of five major trends on the grocery store over the next decade.
GIVEN that we are at the start of a whole new decade, it’s a good time to consider the trends that will shape the decade ahead in grocery retailing. Foodservice delivery, sustainability, healthier eating, the growth of discounters and plantbased eating are not new trends, but their trajectory cannot be ignored. How will these trends evolve in the 2020s? What impact will they have on grocery retail? 1. Supermarkets will target takeaway The leading supermarket chains are already offering online ordering and delivery. Many already have cafés, restaurants and hot food counters. We expect the foodservice delivery market to continue growing strongly over the next three years. A coming together with existing and possibly new delivery specialists, either via strategic partnerships or acquisitions, appears a natural fit and one that could serve to form an ‘extended life intermediary service’ to help fulfil a wider spectrum of food & beverage requirements of busy
householders. It is also not too much of a leap for this to potentially encompass some form of dark kitchen/virtual brands too as supermarkets look to reconfigure excess, under-utilised superstore space. 2. Meat-free will be the default option The relentless rise of growing consumer responsibility around more personal health, animal and planetary welfare will catalyse further growth in meat-reduction dietary preferences. Vegetarianism and veganism will potentially become sufficiently popular normal practices that a tipping point will be reached whereby the tables are turned and meat dishes will be the versions consumers have to ‘opt-in’ for. This is clearly evident within the Irish market, with the likes of the Happy Pear brothers growing in popularity; they originally ran a small, vegan focused café but now have supermarket ready to go ranges, cook books, and a café in the airport). Another success is the proliferation of operators like Sprout (healthy salad bars), who are growing
Steve Gotham, MCA & HIM Market Insight Director. in outlet numbers, with seasonality as a selling point. While it will be long time before meat-free is the default option, this is the direction of travel. The implications for the farming
