AMA Marketing has been reporting on the purchasing behavior of local households for 30 years
Vienna (OTS) – A lot has happened in the food retail sector (LEH) over the past 30 years. In addition to short-term developments, some long-term trends can also be observed. The RollAMA of AMA-Marketing has been following the shopping behavior of the Austrian population since 1994 and therefore knows how consumer behavior has changed and which topics have shaped the food retail offering in recent years.
Over the past 30 years there have been some major topics that have been addressed by the food retail sector. This includes the range of convenience products in the fresh sector, which has been growing since the mid-1990s, but also the introduction of a range of foods with additional health benefits – so-called functional food. In the constant process of market concentration, not only promotions and discounts, but also the retail chains’ own brands became a differentiation instrument from entry-level prices to premium products. The own brands were particularly successful in the organic segment, not least thanks to year-round media advertising.
“Regionalism has also become the main theme of communication, as consumers appreciate the good things that are so close. Both organic and regional products are currently finding a new breeding ground under the general theme of sustainability, which is becoming increasingly important in times of climate change,” says Christina Mutenthaler-Sipek, Managing Director of AMA Marketing. Sustainability is associated with proximity, short transport routes and a circular economy. Plant-based nutrition also plays a role in this, which is why offerings and activities in this area are increasing. Some of these developments still have a firm grip on consumer behavior today, as the following figures show.
New milestone: freshness including bread and pastries
For the first time, data on bread, baked goods and flour are also included in the RollAMA evaluations. Domestic households’ spending on fresh produce, ready meals and flour amounted to 220.6 euros per month. Sausage and ham accounted for the highest share of household spending at 15 percent, followed by milk, yoghurt and butter at 13.4 percent. Meat and poultry accounted for almost 11 percent of fresh spending, or 24 euros per month. Bread, pastries and pastries accounted for around 16 percent of expenditure and 35 euros per month (Chart 1). According to the current RollAMA data, purchases in the product groups recorded achieved sales of around 9.48 billion euros in 2023 as a whole (+10.2% compared to 2022), while the quantities purchased remained stable compared to the same period last year and slightly compared to 2019 in the longer term increased (Charts 2 + 3).
A long-term upward trend can be seen in the development of promotional shares, which have doubled since 2005 to currently 30 percent (Chart 4). A look at the top RollAMA product groups in terms of promotions shows that more than half of the beef and pork were purchased at a discount, followed by butter with a promotion share of 46 percent – for comparison: in 2003 it was still at 11 percent (Chart 5).
Milk and meat: quantities stable, expenses increasing
Overall, sales of foods of animal origin remained stable throughout the previous year. In terms of value, all RollAMA animal product groups developed positively, with the exception of yellow fats, which recorded a decline in sales of 5.5 percent due to price reductions. Prices for the remaining dairy products rose compared to the previous year and resulted in sales increases both for cheese (+16.2%) and in the colorful range (fruit yoghurt, mixed milk drinks, Mopro desserts; 14.3%). Meat, sausage and poultry as well as eggs and ready meals also increased in value (Chart 6). Among the various types of meat, prepared meat and poultry (+6.9%) as well as turkey meat (+5.8%) increased in volume. Beef and veal, however, as high-priced types of meat, had sales difficulties (-5.7%) (Chart 7).
Fruit and vegetables: The crisis is behind us
“The development of the RollAMA product groups of plant origin shows that we are slowly leaving the crises behind us. There was less demand for canned fruits and vegetables with a longer shelf life in 2023 and stocks from the Corona crisis were used up,” says Micaela Schantl, head of market research at AMA Marketing. There were slight increases in volumes in the area of fresh fruit and plant-based alternatives. Increases in value were observed in almost all RollAMA plant-based product groups: potatoes increased the most at 22.5 percent, followed by frozen fruits and vegetables (+15%). Fresh fruit sales increased by 8.3 percent (Chart 8).
Growing product range of plant-based alternatives
The range of plant-based alternatives to meat and dairy products increased by 47 percent to 1,247 items between 2018 and 2023 (Chart 9). But not all new products can convince and remain in place. Overall, the market share remains very low and is around three percent for plant-based alternatives to milk and dairy products, and only one percent for meat and sausage alternatives (Chart 10). In the previous year, sales of plant-based meat and milk alternatives grew by 11.2 percent, although price increases must also be taken into account here. The sales increase was only 2.2 percent (Chart 11).
Organic has long since entered the mainstream
The share of organic in total spending increased across all fresh product groups from 3.8 to 11.5 percent over the last 20 years and fell slightly to 11 percent in 2023 (Chart 12). The fact that organic has become more and more mainstream over time is also shown by the share of buyers depending on the age of the person running the household. While the proportion of buyers in the youngest age segment was still over 30 percent in 2003, older households are now the largest group of buyers in accordance with the prevailing age structure (Chart 13).
More bread and pastries, less flour
The development of the new additions to RollAMA products, bread, pastries, baked goods and flour, was also positive in the previous year – sales rose by almost 11 percent (Chart 14). Compared to the pre-Corona period, all product groups developed stably. Compared to 2022, flour volumes fell by 10.6 percent to the pre-Corona level of around 40,000 tons (Chart 15). This is due to the fact that many households stocked up on flour during the times of crisis (Corona, start of the Ukrainian war) and these supplies had not yet been used up in 2023. The development in the bread and pastries product group was positive: sales grew by 12.8 percent to 905 million euros (Chart 16). Pastry products achieved an increase in sales of almost 9 percent, with a slight decline in sales (Chart 17). Bread, pastries and pastries are mainly bought in classic LEH (59%) and in discount stores (24%) (Chart 18). When it comes to pastries, Austrian consumers like to eat various small pastries in addition to rolls (which account for around 20 percent of expenditure). (Chart 19). Organic also plays a relevant role in this area: the organic proportion of bread was around 14 percent and even 20 percent of pastries, which is higher than in the average RollAMA fresh food basket (Chart 20).
30 years of RollAMA
For 30 years, RollAMA has been providing valuable data on market developments for agricultural products in Austria and providing information about the purchasing behavior of the population. For the “Rolling Agricultural Market Analysis” based on the GfK-CPS Consumer Panel, 2,800 households selected to be representative of the Austrian population document every food purchase they make for their household using in-home scanning. In an extensive processing process, the data is classified, checked, evaluated and, in a final step, prepared into charts.
Charts and images:
Questions & Contact:
Christian Lastra
Corporate communication
Mobil: +43 664 837 64 20
E-Mail: presse@amainfo.at
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