Food companies everywhere are wondering what Covid-19 will mean for levels of demand and for consumption patterns.
From Australia to America, Portugal to Scotland, companies have been contacting us to ask what they should be thinking about, what are the lasting changes are that being wrought by Covid-19, and what they might mean for their NPD and innovation strategy.
So we have assembled this report to help companies large and small to think through the next 12-18 months.
The purpose of this report is not to tell you what is going to happen or what you must do – no one can know. Its purpose is to:
- Set out what the most likely impacts on strategy will be
- Enable you to think in a structured way about what might change for your business,
- And how your strategy should evolve to respond to the changes.
And because nothing is certain, we’ve expressed the 20 strategy points as a series of questions to consider, not as bold assertions.
We discuss the 12 most important of these in-depth, including a "what does this mean for business" summary.
Table of Contents
About the author
Strategy in an uncertain world
20 questions for your coronavirus strategy
The top-12 questions in depth
- Will discussion about diet-related disease intensify and put more pressure on food producers?
- Will healthy ageing be brought back into focus?
- Will immunity dominate NPD and innovation?
- What will happen to the big consumer trends? Will they accelerate or take a pause?
- Will ‘local provenance’ become more important for brands and ingredients?
- Will there be an enduring shift to selling direct-to-consumer?
- Will retailing become more local, more independent?
- What will happen to foodservice business and dining out?
- Will packaging stage a comeback?
- Will hygiene, safety and quality matter more?
- Will there be fewer brands…and fewer start-ups?
- Will online influencers retain their influence? Or will people turn more to experts?
Charts
Chart 1: Most common co-morbidities in Covid-19 diseased patients in Italy
Chart 2: Prevalence of underlying conditions in Covid-19 patients in U.S.*
Chart 3: Deaths in Covid-19 positive cases per age segment in Italy and Spain
Chart 4: Absolute number of deaths by age group in Italy
Chart 5: Google searches worldwide for immunity & digestion
Chart 6: Google searches worldwide – Vitamin C and elderberry are winners
Chart 7: Jump in Google searches in Spanish for traditional immune-supporting foods
Chart 8: Google searches for probiotics and immunity have surged
Chart 9: Posts on #keto and #keto diet rocket on Instagram
Tables
Table 1: Most common comorbidities observed in Covid-19 positive deceased patients in Italy
Companies Mentioned
- Actimel
- Activia
- Ahold Delhaize
- All Together Now
- Arla
- Brand’s Essence of Chicken
- Brownes Dairy
- Bulk Barn
- Carrefour
- Cefuture
- Cerebos Pacific
- Chia Sisters
- Chobani
- Coldiretti
- Danone
- Deliveroo
- Detox Kitchen Delis
- Fleury Michon
- Food Lion
- Fruits d’ici
- Grenade
- Heinz
- Krispy Kreme
- Leader Price
- Londis
- McColls
- Mondelez
- Morrisons
- Mountain Dairy
- My/Mo Mochi
- Nielsen
- Njie
- Ollca
- Panera
- Panzani
- Peapod
- Rabobank
- Starbucks
- Stop & Shop
- Sweetgreen
- Tesco
- Texas Roadhouse
- Thrive Market
- Tine E+
- Yakult
- Zespri
