The after world: Food consumption and digital practices: What does the post-COVID world look like for food brands?

Résumé 0

By placing limits on daily life, restricting access to the foods and brands that we usually consume, and generating economic and psychological stress, the pandemic has raised the question of how food consumption behaviors have changed. To study possible changes in food consumption, we posted a self-administered questionnaire online at the end of the first lockdown, yielding 409 responses. Through 56 variables, it addressed respondents’ diet and relationship to food, examining hedonic, nutritional, and ethical considerations, shopping and distribution channels, meal preparation and consumption, and the digitalization of food practices. It concluded by presenting twenty-one visions of the future. To answer our twofold research question, which concerns the structuring of new expectations around attributes of food brands and reconciling this with a vision of the post-pandemic world, we develop a typology of individuals according to stated variations in their attention to food brands. While most respondents reported paying as much attention since the start of the pandemic as before, a new group of food consumers emerged: young adults aged 18–24 in relationships. In addition to their expectations of transparency around the composition as well as the ecological and economic origins of their food, these young adults also reported a newfound pleasure in food shopping and preparation, a pleasure that spilled over into the intimacy of cooking with a partner. We discuss these results by relating them to the five dimensions of proximity that define brand positioning.