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Bord Bia

Covid-19 Impacts on German Behavior Related to Food Consumption

2nd November 2020

Gabriele Weiss Brummer, Market Manager Germany, Bord Bia – The Irish Food Board

The current pandemic situation has evolved changes in behavior of global consumers, including Germans, related to consumption of food, cooking habits and attitude towards food overall. In the following paragraphs I am going to highlight those, especially relevant to the German market. Different to other countries as for example Italy or France, German consumers have been focusing more on food price than quality and less cooking-affine in average. After Covid-19 these habits have been altered in the short-term. Three major trends have emerged: 1. Cooking, baking and snacking as retreat, 2. New rise of delivery service, 3. Fresh & healthy nutrition.

In times of home-working and home-schooling consumers have explored cooking, baking and eating at home in a new way. 21% of German consumers state that they have increased baking and 25% have increased in-home cooking since Covid-19 started. The own kitchen has become a sanctuary far away from stress and problems. Due to this development consumers have started to search for new recipes on websites or in cooking apps, looking for new inspirations. More than half of the German consumers share their time now more often with their family than before. According to the Lebensmittelzeitung, special interest magazine and online platform for the German retail landscape, HelloFresh, delivery service for recipe oriented fresh ingredients boxes, has more than doubled its turnover in Q3 2020 vs. Q3 2019, with approx. 970m Euro.

While many consumers have discovered cooking as kind of shielding from the world outside or in order to get some feeling of comfort, delivery services as Lieferando, an equivalent service provider as Deliveroo, are also facing new heights. 14% order food from delivery service now more often than before as the Bord Bia Future Toolkit Survey reports.

Parallel many consumers try to change their nutrition to a more health oriented lifestyle. 23% report to improve their own health by consuming functional food and organic products.

How long these new behaviors will last after the pandemic is hard to predict, but as these changes have been going on now for several months, it is likely that they will transform into new lasting habits.

Sources:

IGD Retail Analysis, April 2020

Bord Bia Future Toolkit

Lebensmittelzeitung