Canned is back in demand as cost-of-living bites

According to recent Kantar data, growth in canned goods has been outpacing the rest of the grocery market since February this year, with more buyers making canned food purchases in May to August 2022 compared to the same period in 2020 – during the height of lockdown.

UK sales volumes of goods including canned soup (up by 19.7%) and tomatoes (up by 8%) are at their highest comparative levels since 2018, while a recent survey conducted by international food and drink group, Princes, in partnership with innovation consultancy, KICR, revealed that almost a third (31%) of British consumers intend to buy more canned products over the next year.

As food inflation continues to soar, the survey highlighted that those consumers likely to buy more canned goods will do so due to lower costs and longer shelf lives, citing the ability to keep products in the cupboard (64%), value for money (53%) and minimising food waste (46%) as key purchase drivers.

At the same time, 20% of UK consumers said they expect to buy less chilled foods over the coming year. To save money during the cost-of-living crisis, respondents said they are most likely to buy more dry pasta (46%), rice (41%), canned beans (40%) and canned tomatoes (35%).

Over a third (34%) expect to add more vegetables or pulses to meals to make them go further and 33% plan to do more batch cooking, while 41% also highlighted that canned goods are great for making meals from scratch.

Amid rising energy prices, British consumers are also looking to reduce costs by ‘heating and eating,’ with 43% highlighting that they believe canned or similarly packaged grocery products cost the least to cook.

Talking Retail