IFIC Spotlight Survey: 2020 Year-End Survey: Consumer Insights From A Year Like No Other, Plus A Look To The Year Ahead
December 16, 2020
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We’ve almost reached the end of 2020—twelve months that have been more challenging than we ever could have predicted, defined by the upheaval of many aspects of our lives. As we mark the end of this consequential year, IFIC has conducted a survey on what we know best: the world of food. In this research we learned more about how COVID-19 has shifted peoples’ eating, drinking and cooking habits; what diet trends were on our minds in 2020; how holiday plans have changed; and what we’re looking forward to and concerned about in the year ahead.
The International Food Information Council (IFIC) commissioned an online research survey with consumers based in the US to measure knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about food and health in 2020. One thousand adults aged 18+ years completed the survey from December 3-5, 2020, and responses were weighted to ensure proportional results.
Key findings include:
- Eighty-two percent of consumers said that the pandemic has shifted what they eat and how they purchase food.
- Simple, straightforward shifts in cooking habits have proved more popular than trends like bread baking and buying new kitchen equipment.
- The under-45 crowd has seen considerable shakeups to what they eat, what they cook and how they acquire food.
- This year, most people are making major adjustments to their holiday routines, but a sizable group is not: over one in five (22%) say that their holiday plans have not changed compared with previous years.
- COVID-19-related “returns to normal” top the list of what excites people most about food in the new year, but coronavirus concerns will still weigh on the minds of many in 2021.