As some states begin to re-open and ease social distancing restrictions, the attention has now turned the restarting of the economy. While traditional retail categories like electronics, clothing, shoes and toys have all taken a nosedive, out of pure necessity grocery retail has thrived. Out-of-stocks for common items have mostly subsided, but there are still areas of the country greatly affected. My mom reported to me this weekend that her local Walmart and HEB in the suburbs of Houston remained out of stock on many common groceries. She attributed it to the increased need for families with kids at home until the beginning of the next school year now; she said the aisles were bustling with parents and children in the outdoor and toy departments.

The industry is now wondering how long meat and grocery will ride the wave of increased purchases in this new reality. Below, I’ll offer my predictions for three things I expect to continue post-COVID.

Meat purchases rise

While they may not be up from the highs of 80% and 92% over PY for weeks ending March 15 and March 22 respectively, according to an analysis done by 210 Analytics and IRI reported by Meatingplace, I do think it will continue to remain high through the end of the year as consumers want to keep those freezers and refrigerators stocked with at-home options. I think there will still be some fear and cautiousness about returning to eating out. Additionally, among my millennial peers across my social channels, I see story after story of consumers realizing they are saving tons of money by cooking and eating out less.

You must remember that we (millennials) are very into "experiences," and whether it was brunch or dinner, we were likely spending higher than other generations on eating out. Now that we’ve seen we can shift those dollars into online shopping and other things by cooking at home more often (and we’ve learned to cook even better while being in quarantine) we’re likely not going to return to the restaurant spending levels we saw pre-COVID for quite some time.

Online grocery sales increase

I was already a fan pre-COVID, but now the pandemic has introduced so many new consumers to online grocery shopping. Whether they are using click-and-collect or delivery, everyone is flocking to grab a timeslot. During Meatingplace’s fireside chat, analysis by 210 Analytics and reported in the Power of Meat said that <1% of shoppers primary grocery channel was online. As someone in that 1%, I’ve been frustrated that I can’t get a grocery pick-up time now to save my life.

When the storm calms, I do think we’ll see that number grow, as consumers realize the extreme convenience that online grocery shopping provides, especially when we return to our normal busy lives. For a period, consumers will still be skeptical about being out and about and if they can do something essential like grocery shop from the comforts of their home, they are likely to stick with it. Next year, I say that number increases to somewhere between 2% and 5% use online grocery shopping as their primary channel.

Food safety top of mind

With education around proper handwashing taking center stage during the pandemic, consumers are now more curious about food safety. For some time, we’ve heard how consumers want to know where their food comes from and what’s in it, but that hasn’t always translated into wanting to know about food safety as the industry defines it. Now there is a sudden rise in wanting to know how it was prepared (cook, cut, separate, chill steps), how it was packaged and who came into contact with my food or delivered it.

With food safety and public health at the forefront now, consumers are keenly aware of or seeking out the answers around what precautions our plants and retailers take to protect our food from farm to table. This interest, I expect, will not immediately wane, especially as those transparency and trust questions reemerge post-COVID.

A new era

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