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Consumers’ Plans for Holiday Meals: To Grandmother’s House They Go?
When it comes to firming up holiday meal plans for the upcoming season, most consumers had specific Christmas/Hanukkah plans in place early, while their New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day plans were still up in the air, according to NPD’s annual Holiday Survey.
The survey, which asked consumers who will prepare holiday meals and where they will eat those meals, revealed more than 80 percent of consumers will either prepare their own Christmas/Hanukkah meals or have them prepared by a family member. That number is significantly lower for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, as more consumers were still unsure of their plans for New Year’s events.
The survey also found very few consumers plan to have their Christmas/Hanukkah meals prepared by a restaurant or caterer this year. To meet the needs of busy holiday home chefs, consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers could consider offering convenient products that make holiday meals easier to prepare.
While still accounting for a relatively small portion of consumer behavior, dining at restaurants and with friends is more prevalent on New Year’s Eve, compared to the earlier winter holidays.
“There’s less emphasis on being together with family for New Year’s compared to Christmas/Hanukkah, which is probably why there is more consumer uncertainty about New Year’s plans,” said Darren Seifer, NPD food and beverage industry analyst. “The opportunity for CPG marketers to gain ‘share of stomach’ is to capitalize on those who already plan to be in someone’s home, and capture the nearly 30 percent of Americans who are still unsure of their New Year’s plans.”
Though Christmas and New Year’s Eve are only a week apart, many consumers had not thought beyond Christmas or Hanukkah – New Year’s plans were more likely to be decided shortly before January first. Promotions planned for the end of the year could be a boon to food marketers.
To learn more about NPD’s information and insights for the food & beverage industry, contact Charlie Camaroto at 866-444-1411 or e-mail contactnpd@npd.com.
About the survey: The NPD Holiday Survey was fielded in September 2007. The findings presented here are based on information from 1,943 completed interviews of members of NPD's online consumer panel.