Recession changes grocery shoppers' habits - survey

In-house brands now have greater acceptance and are being bought more at the expense of name brands, says a new survey. Photo / The Listener.

A third of New Zealand families have changed their dinner habits as a result of the economic downturn, according to an online survey.

Conducted by parenting website www.kidspot.co.nz, the survey of over 500 families suggested the recession had prompted a more frugal approach to grocery shopping and less spending on takeaways.

It also suggested a sharp rise in the price of groceries had led to more respondents bulk buying when items were on special, and freezing supplies for future use - particularly meat.

In-house brands now had greater acceptance and were being bought more at the expense of name brands, particularly when it came to staple products like tinned tomatoes, flour, rice, butter and bread.

Fish and some premium cuts of meat were being overlooked more often, and vegetables were being used more commonly as a substitute for meat, according to the survey's respondents.

Families were also planning ahead to avoid impulse buying.

"Mothers now leave the house for their weekly (not daily) shop armed with a list in hand, likely gleaned from the catalogue-advertised specials..." the website said.

Grocery buyers reported shopping around more than in the past and targeting price-friendly markets and independent butchers, while chasing the specials at different supermarkets.

The survey showed a drop in takeaway purchasing, but 61 per cent of households said they still had takeaways at least every two weeks.

The figure dropped to 41 per cent when there were no dependants under the age of 18 living at home.

When it came to home dining, 98 per cent of respondents felt it important to sit down as a family to eat their nightly meals.

The survey found that a quarter of New Zealanders consulted recipes weekly, sourcing them online 82 per cent more often than in magazines.

Kidspot chief executive Katie May said grocery retailers and marketers would have already seen the changes happening.

She said for some time there had been conversation happening within the website's online community revolving around the need to save money in an economic downturn.

"The modern New Zealand mothers have had to reassess their purchase decisions of late and in many instances has drastically changed the way she has previously shopped for her family."

- NZPA