I would have thought that with all these tendencies to gastronomy, "natural” food, healthy food, vegetarian, vegan and other trends, people would prefer to buy more fresh food and cook it at home. Well, no. It seems to be exactly the opposite.
As published in the Spanish newspaper El País, in the last ten years - at least among Spanish consumers - the trend when consumers go to the supermarket is to buy less fresh food and more packaged products, and lately they buy more ready-made or ready-to-eat meals.
Ten years ago, Spanish consumers spent more on buying food at the butcher shop, fruit and vegetable stores, or in the markets. Today, they go there less and spend less in these channels. By the way, traditional markets are dying. As time passes by, there are more closed stalls or for sale. It is a pity. It is so much more enjoyable to buy groceries in a market!
In addition, demographic changes tell us that there are more and more elders, who usually cook less at home. Also, in Europe, and particularly in Spain, the population is practically not growing. This is the scenario that food producers face today.
Prepared meals for takeaway in supermarkets, which now gives rise to the term "grocerants," is very much en vogue. So, seeing these trends and the laziness (is it now called comfort or convenience?) of home-cooking so present, it seems to me that there is an interesting grain for poultry products here. As well as for inventiveness. In the photo of this blog you can see something that I had never seen for sale in a supermarket: a chicken and spinach burger. It seems like a good idea, doesn't it?
It is all a matter of letting the imagination fly and seeing how we can fit into these changing and promising markets.
What do you think?
