What the consumer wants in the post-pandemic

“The tendency is to be multitrend”. The speech is by Nathália Royo, from the market intelligence and marketing sector at Galunion Consultoria. Nathália presented during FoodCo. Experience a summary of 27 food trends mapped by Galunion in its latest research.

“Speed, good service and healthy ingredients appear as differential choice criteria”, pointed out Nathália during the presentation at the event. The FoodCo. Experience brought together more than 70 businessmen and restaurateurs at Cozinha Bom Gourmet on Thursday (9), it was sponsored by Gold FoodService, Champers Embalagens and Agência Reset and supported by Nomaa Hotel and EGG Educa.

Of the main gastronomy trends found in the survey are natural ingredients (42%), breakfast anytime (40%), comfort food (38%) and products from local and natural suppliers (36%). “The all-day breakfast trend also has to do with the demand for comfort food. It is food that you know, like, have the habit of consuming frequently and that can be consumed in other meals, such as lunch , and also as a snack“, analyzed Nathália.

Nathália’s lecture was preceded by two pitches by guests Guga Schifino, co-founder of QuiQ, and Lígia Figueiredo, director of Go-To-Market at Kibon, Unilever’s ice cream brand. They talked about metaverse and product innovations respectively.

Check out the main topics discussed and gastronomy trends below:

Generation Z

The new generation of consumers want autonomy to place orders and pay, but still prefer to be served by a human and have their doubts answered by someone else. The consumption criteria of the digital native generation Z go through the recognition and identification with the values ​​presented by the brands, and demand that the practice is equal to the speech.

communicate everything

Constantly communicate your brand attributes, your values, and other brand characteristics that are not just the quality of your final product. Reinforce that your delivery service can be done through various channels and applications.

Use your social media and online presence in apps and marketplaces to promote your values ​​and reinforce your environmental, social and governance policies and connect with consumers beyond just presenting your product.

consumption occasion

Identify and master the consumption occasion of your product. Constantly do benchmarking to compare your competitors’ products and services and find out what the market gaps are and whether your brand can act in them. This knowledge will allow your brand to innovate in products and services based on what your audience wants and needs.

listen to the consumer

Have listening channels to collect the most feedback as possible from your customers and actively monitor social media and search engines to see what people are saying about your brand.

comfort food

Tasty food that reminds us of “simpler times” is always a good choice. The trend of “comfort culture” and nostalgia appear accompanied by references to pop culture from decades ago (often accompanied by an immersive experience), such as a reinterpretation or a new presentation of a known flavor, such as pizza, lasagna, stroganoff , barbecue, hot dog.

protagonist consumer

The possibility of changing an ingredient or choosing the composition of a preparation attracts many consumers. The establishment can offer a sandwich, for example, and give the option for the customer to choose the bread and the ingredients for the filling – or the opposite, in which the customer, with a click on a box, unchecks the ingredients he would like to include or fold.

personalized suggestions

While 85% of consumers would like to customize or change their order, 77% would like the establishment to suggest changes based on preferences that the consumer has already presented in previous orders. In the salon, this dynamic is well known to waiters and habitués. In digital, the challenge is to be assertive in the indication without being intrusive.

proprietary flavor

Have a flavor of your own: it could be the house sauce, a dish that is the flagship and whose recipe is unique or the most representative of your business. Or, be the expert in an ingredient and method of preparation, so the customer understands your business as an authority on that subject.

permissive indulgence

People are overwhelmed and want to eat something tasty. Indulgence comes in a “controlled” way in several ways: it can be a smaller portion of a cake or dessert, a hamburger with local ingredients, without preservatives, with functional ingredients, fewer calories or that have superfoods in their composition.

Metaverse

In the short term, the metaverse as an immersive experience is a good solution for training and qualifying teams through augmented reality, that is, geared towards preparing the “backstage” of the restaurant. The online universes of games and socialization are also contact channels between users and your brand, enabling a frictionless experience, such as shopping and interacting with products.