APD | Asians to change eating habits after pandemic

By APD writer Alice

The latest survey by market research firm Nielsen of the US shows that the eating habits of people in Asia may change after the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Consumers across Asia have signaled their eating habits may change permanently once the world moves beyond the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19)," according to the Nielsen survey.

Conducted from March 6 to March 17, the survey involved more than 6,000 people in 11 Asian countries and territories, including mainland China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Taiwan and Hong Kong

Among the 11 Asian markets, only Japanese consumers say they are less likely to change their eating habits as a result of the global pandemic.

As the first in a wave of Nielsen explorations underway across 74 markets, the survey indicates that consumers in mainland China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia and Vietnam will rethink and re-prioritize the place eating at home has in their lives.

In mainland China, 86% said they would eat at home more often than before the outbreak. The rate was 77% in Hong Kong and 62% in South Korea, Malaysia and Vietnam

Further, the study also found a high demand for more takeaway food and home deliveries of food, particularly in Hong Kong, South Korea and Thailand. These markets epitomize “on-the-go” lifestyles and value the convenience on-the-go food offerings bring in.

“Given the extended period Asian markets have ensured the COVId-19 escalation, the prolonged time people have had to spend in their homes in lockdown across a number of markets is clearly forcing a rethink in consumer behavior,” said Vaughan Ryan, Managing Director Southeast Asia of Nielsen.

The food landscape in Asia has been an incubator of innovation and change over the last five years. As consumer lifestyles have become more densely urbanized, busier and more connected, the rise of food delivery and on-the-go consumption has dramatically changed traditional food consumption and eating experiences. But as the coronavirus situation develops complicatedly, where and how consumers are eating has changed, with more choosing to purchase goods to eat at home.

In a number of Asian markets, sales are regularly exceeding 20-25% of the average weekly sales across FMCG every week since the end of January,” Ryan said, commenting that there is no doubt consumers have moved away from an ‘on-the-go lifestyle’ to more of a ‘safe in-home consumption’ trend.

Norma Chu, founder of the DayDayCook cooking platform in Hong Kong, said consumers shopping on the retail website Tmall have reduced buying non-essential items like snacks and nuts, which are replaced by essential food such as rice, noodles, cooking oil and spices...

The change of eating habits by consumers also affects the operation of restaurants and forces them to review strategies and business forms.

Deepika Chandrasekar, an analyst at market research firm Euromonitor International (the UK), said travel restrictions, bans of crowds and social distancing rules in Singapore have affected restaurants. Even as the number of online orders is increasing, the majority of restaurants' revenue is from on-site customers.

But whilst consumer behavior across markets in the immediate terms has definitely changed, the subsequent question is “when will it return to normal?” The answer may well be never, affirmed Ryan.

According to another Nielsen research study, Nielsen Social Intelligence Survey on Coronavirus, in mainland China, nearly 70% of the respondents purchased daily necessities or fresh products more than twice a week. Home quarantine further cultivated consumers’ online shopping habits, with 89% of consumers saying they will be more willing to buy daily necessities or fresh products online once the pandemic is over. Additionally, 80% said they would pay attention to eating healthy even after the epidemic is over.

This shows that even after life returns to normal post COVID-19, healthy eating may register higher on consumers’ radars than in the past. In-home eating experiences have been reset.

By 7am on April 10, the coronavirus had attacked over 210 countries and territories worldwide since it broke out in China in December 2019. It has infected about 1.6 million people around the world and claimed more than 95,500 lives. The US and Europe are now the epicentres of the pandemic.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)