JEWEL-OSCO EXPERIENCES CHANGES IN SHOPPING

BARBARA MURRAY

CHICAGO -- Business, although not necessarily up, has indeed shifted at Jewel-Osco food stores here, a division of Albertson's, Boise, Idaho, according to spokeswoman Karen Ramos.

More shoppers are buying ingredients for full dinners, much more than before last year's terrorist attacks, she told SN.

"I truly think people are eating out less, adjusting their shopping habits and buying more of those ingredient items," Ramos said. Less prepared food and fewer frozen pizza items are being sold, she added.

Some of the shift could be due to the faltering economy, but Ramos said Chicago is "doing fine," and that Jewel is even building another store in the downtown area.

The NPD Group, Port Washington, N.Y., found in its 16th annual "Report on Eating Patterns in America" that, for the first time in 12 years, the number of take-out meals purchased at a restaurant by the average American had dropped, from 141 in 1999 to 138 in 2000. This decrease is directly related to the number of new, ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat products at the supermarket, the report said.

The report is based on more than 30 research studies conducted by NPD, including the daily food and beverage consumption of 5,000 Americans.