What are your shopping habits?

Grocery_store Summer has finally hit Chicago – well, right now it is 66° and raining – but still, the beaches are crowded and the farmer’s markets are bustling. I ran into my local Jewel (big grocery chain) on Sunday and the manager “aisle gossip” was how slow the July 4 weekend has been for them. Were folks out of town for the holiday, or choosing to shop fresher and more local?

I’ve noticed my personal food expenditure remaining pretty steady, but shifting more to the farmer’s markets where I can talk to someone who actually produced the food and where the fruit is ripe and the spinach is filled with dirt and the occasional bug, but really tasty.

According to most media reports, frugality is the “new black”. People are trimming their food budgets quite dramatically. Because of this, and the downturn in company R&D budgets, food companies have scaled back, too. Mintel reported that there were only 2,600 new food and beverage products introduced in January – March of 2009, a 51% decrease from the same time last year.

Is it economic – or are people starting to make food choices based on other criteria?

CBD does an annual Food Shopping Survey … and I’d love it if you would all weigh in. Takes less than a minute. Please click the link to begin the survey http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/145810/cbd-2009-food-shopping-survey