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Post-Holiday: nesting with comfort foods

Post-Holiday: nesting with comfort foods

The quick transition from holiday to post-holiday mindset presents the sharpest contrast of the year for consumers

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Post-Holiday: nesting with comfort foods

Post HolidayThe quick transition from holiday to post-holiday mindset presents the sharpest contrast of the year for consumers. But it is a positive shift, with people moving from a time of emotional stress and social flux to a more predictable regimen of rules and routines.

Families nest in this period with healthful, nourishing and comfort foods in mind. They focus on warm, hearty meals that sustain and help them resist colds and flu. These meals may take longer to prepare, but people do spend more time at home during this season, especially in colder climates.

In practical terms, stews, casseroles and scratch cooking move to the top burner. Also central now: people experiment with fresh takes on healthy foods to offset any winter blahs, and counter dietary excesses of the holidays with lower-fat, lower-calorie, portion-controlled meals.

A savings mentality rules in the wake of holiday budget excesses. This carries over into food buying, where value pricing is especially important, and into home-based activities, where families are content having fun together under one roof.

Using these insights, retailers can improve their consumer appeals by underscoring an enduring health message (not just a call to dieters), a value and savings message, and reinforcing the idea that food can be an integral part of the family fun, suggests Tim Miller, senior director of shopper insights at ConAgra Foods.

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Sourcing: Target: 35 Dinners Taken Home from Restaurant/person/year Source: NPD 24th Annual Eating Patterns in America, 2009 Population estimate, 2011: 313,232,000 Source: US Census Bureau Cost of In-Home Dinner from Grocery Store: $2.50 Source: Various estimates: NPD cost of in-home meal ($2.37); The Simpledollar.com # of US Groc Stores, $2MM+: 36,000 Source: Progressive Grocer CAG Share of Center Store: 3.4321$2MM+ Supermarket 2IRI 52 Weeks ending 3/29/10

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