Americans say they are spending an additional $15 a week on food but that inflation is less important to them at the grocery store than buying good-tasting food, according to a survey by Purdue University. “At present, consumer food demand is price insensitive,” said the Consumer Food Insights report.
Whatever their income level, Americans rank taste as food’s most important attribute, said the report, although among lower-income people, making less than $50,000 a year, affordability was almost as significant.
Participants in the online survey of 1,200 adults in late March estimated that they spent $177 a week on food, an increase of 8 percent, or $15, from the previous month. But they said the portion of their income spent on food was relatively unchanged, “which would indicate that wages are similarly rising,” said the report.
The report also noted that Americans consistently underestimate food inflation. The Purdue panel of consumers estimated that food prices were up by 5.4 percent in the past year, while the Consumer Price Index put the increase at 7.9 percent. The Labor Department updated the food inflation figure to 8.8 percent earlier this week.
“To track whether consumers are beginning to shop in a more price-responsive, or recessionary, manner, we asked if respondents would purchase a basket of brand name groceries priced at $100 or a comparable basket of generic name groceries priced at either $85 or $70,” said economist Jayson Lusk, who oversees the report.
“Higher-income households were much more likely to say they’d choose branded over generic products than lower-income consumers. However, for all three income groups [high, middle and low income], none were particularly sensitive to the change in price of brand vs. generic.”
If consumers were feeling the pinch of higher prices, they would be more likely to switch to the lower-priced generic foods, said the report.
Four of every 10 of the adults questioned for the report said food safety and inspection was the most important category of USDA activity, and a majority, 53 percent, called for increased spending in the area in the upcoming farm bill. Two of 10 said public nutrition programs such as SNAP, WIC, and school lunch were the most important part of the USDA portfolio, with 44 percent saying food assistance should get more money. Few respondents called for cuts in USDA programs.
In a different question, 70 percent of respondents supported new regulations of the environmental claims that food makers can make about their products.
The Consumer Food Insights report is based on an online monthly survey of a panel of 1,200 adults, age 18 and up. Responses were weighted to reflect U.S. demographics.
The Consumer Food Insights report is available here.