A special report from:
Assessing COVID’s impact Speciality & Fine Food Fair teamed up with Fine Food Digest to explore some of the major changes brought about in the speciality food sector by the coronavirus pandemic. More than 790 buyers and 340 producers & suppliers were surveyed on a variety of topics, including doing business online, sustainability and foodservice operations. Here are the findings…
Foodservice might never be the same again If you have a café/foodservice offer as part of your shop, how much has that part of the business changed?* No change
Will you be restoring this foodservice offer to its previous pre-pandemic version? Or will you change your approach? 60
A little
51%
50
49%
40 30 20 10 A moderate amount / somewhat
0 A great deal
*431 respondents deemed this question ‘Not applicable’. Data from 362 respondents.
48%
of businesses with a foodservice or café offer reported a “great deal” of change to that part of their operation
No, I will change my approach
Yes, I will be restoring it to pre-pandemic
*388 respondents deemed this question ‘Not applicable’. Data from 405 respondents.
Behind the data Last year, FFD spoke to plenty of businesses that had repurposed the floor space used for dining and café seating into more space for retail or delivery packing – or they switched to food-to-go. It’s interesting to see a near-perfect split between those who want to return to their pre-pandemic café offer and those who are happy to move on, having discovered they can do things differently – or not at all.
Doing business online – the retailers’ big shift Have your online sales grown since March 2020? 60
How has your online presence changed?* A great deal
54%
No change
50 40
31.5%
30 20 10 0
10% 4.5%
A moderate amount
Somewhat No change
Significant Significant No online offering decline increase
A little
What improvements did you make?*
13%
of businesses launched new websites, expanded their online retail offer or redesigned
21%
* 145 respondents deemed this question not applicable
39%
paid for some form of advertising or promotion on social media
made improvements to their social media strategy. Instagram and Facebook are the most frequently mentioned sites.
How much product sourcing do you do online?*
12
respondents hired (or paid for a professional consultant) to handle social media, marketing or online sales
Captured comments
All
Some
None
“We have recruited internally for someone to manage our socials, changed our style of imagery (using lifestyle shots more, rather than product shots), and have been working closer with suppliers to do joint sharing on socials.” “While we were closed we tried to engage our customers with recipe videos and included a competition where customers posted their dishes.”
A little A lot *102 respondents deemed this question not applicable. Total respondents 691.
“We were lucky and had a celebrity who visited a few times and it was posted in the daily papers. As a result we had 520,000 hits on our website. We also used Google Ad Words at the beginning of the pandemic to advertise our delivery service.”
8%
staged online events
Behind the data After years of debate in the industry about whether it could work as a sales channel for food & drink, online finally came of age in 2020. Admittedly, the arrival of COVID-19 was the catalyst that internet food retailing needed to really get going, but it’s a method of buying that many consumers have now embraced. While many retailers (as borne out here) and producers have found a new route to market, the internet has also proven itself to be a vital marketing tool for retailers across the UK. The data here certainly backs that up, with a wealth of different strategies mentioned – from simply posting more on Instagram and putting on online tastings through to investing in social media advertising and hiring professionals to improve digital marketing.
How buyers view sustainability How important are sustainable credentials (ethical sourcing, eco-friendly packaging) when sourcing new products?
60
55% of respondents said they had made sustainable changes to their business within the past 12 months
55%
50 40
38%
30 20
7%
10 0
Very important
Important / moderately important
Of little or no importance
How important is promoting sustainable, local and seasonal products? 60 50 40
53%
“We introduce an Unpackaged selfweigh unit and have reduced plastic packaging in favour of kraft card.” “We encourage our customers to give us their takeaway packaging – in return for a free tea – to encourage them to not use the litter bins and allow us to recycle commercially for them.”
What were those changes?
no responsible plastics supplier no programme surpluses B Corp clingfilm to reusable product containers
status
20
Important / moderately important
Whether you look at it from a producer’s or a buyer’s position, sustainability has been becoming a more prevalent concern – driven by increasing awareness and demand from consumers. It seems the pandemic has done very little to slow this down. All of the data displayed on this page points to environmentally friendly and ethical business practices becoming the norm in the speciality food sector.
Of little or no importance
The producers’ view on sustainability How important are sustainable credentials (ethical sourcing, eco-friendly packaging) for you when developing new products?
52%
2%
said ‘very important’
said ‘of little or no importance’
food banks
Behind the data
7%
10 Very important
“We’re trying to move away from plastic wherever there is a suitable alternative available. It’s difficult due to the price increase of eco materials to plastic.”
change of regional suppliers
40%
30
0
Captured comments
Do your buyers understand and want ethical and environmentally friendly products? 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
71%
6% No
23% Not sure
Yes
70% of those surveyed said they incorporate or promote their sustainable credentials in their branding and packaging
A changing market for producers Has COVID changed the way you do business with customers?
6%
39%
31%
No, there’s no change
Yes, a great deal
Yes, a moderate amount
Have you set up the means to sell direct to consumers?
What percentage of your sales does this now account for?* 81%-100%
80
75%
70
61%-80%
0%-20%
60 50 40
25%
30 20
41%-60%
10 0
Yes
No
21%-40% *254 respondents who had set up direct-to-consumer sales
Behind the data The responses from producers to this section of the survey will come as little surprise to anyone with even a passing interest in food & drink. Most companies that make or supply food have had little choice but to set up some kind of direct-to-consumer sales channel to make up for the losses from foodservice’s shutdown and, in some cases, a dip in retail sales. That said, setting up a platform to reach consumers doesn’t guarantee success. So it’s interesting to see that 40% of respondents now count their D2C channel as a major contributor to their turnover. It’s not just routes to market that have been affected, with a good deal of respondents saying they had tweaked their product ranges, formats for existing items and methods of production within the last year or so. The fact that most firms won’t be reverting to pre-COVID practices and product lines is in keeping with the legacy of this pandemic. Permanent change has been the norm in many businesses and personal situations.
36%
of suppliers said they had made other changes to production methods and/ or the range they offered.
83% of these companies said the changes would be permanent
Get ready for Speciality & Fine Food Fair Whether you’re a visitor or a potential exhibitor, visit specialityandfinefoodfairs.co.uk for more information about the 2021 show. Read more from Fine Food Digest here: gff.co.uk
Captured comments “We have had to go back to the supermarkets, which goes against the grain – but needs must.” “I now offer a bespoke gift service which incorporates products from other local producers.” “We have fewer products in stock and more justin-time production to avoid overstocking situations like in 2020, so there’s a longer delay for orders.” “We have reduced our range to allow increased focus on the ‘crowd pleasing’ brands in our offer.”