A report from SAI Marketing finds that eaters are increasingly breaking down into two groups: Food Elites and Food Realists.
Foot Elites, accounting for about 16 percent of higher-income U.S. households, culturally "identify with all the aspects of the foodie lifestyle as defined above and it forms a core part of their self-perception."
Roughly defined as college-educated from households earning $100,000 or more per year, the group gained more prominence with the post-recession, leading luxury consumers to shift their focus from "owning a luxury to experiencing a luxury." Experiential luxury includes artisanal food, travel, fine dining, spas and entertaining, mostly centered around food.
Boomers in this group are "at a life stage in which they do not need or want more things. They are the primary customers for experiential luxury offerings." Millennials' lifestyle is defined "more by what they've done and experienced than by what they own. They are drawn to instant pleasure and lavish experiences."
Important factors for Food Elites include ingredients in general, locally-sourced food, natural versus artificial ingredients, simplicity (handmade vs. industrial produced), authenticity (knowing the place of origin), and heritage. Also critical is social foodism, including "food one-upsmanship" in socializing with peers as well as voracious consumption of food information on TV, magazines, online and word-of-mouth.
On the other side, Food Realists represent 84 percent of the population with price being the key driver of purchasing decisions. The group has a "common view of food that is much more functional in its nature. While they do exhibit some of the same communal rituals that the Food Elite do, they are much more constrained by finances and familiarity."
The two main sensibilities of Food Realists are price sensitivity and familiar taste profiles. They like to eat traditional and conventional foods often based on long held family recipes.
"The concept of food as a luxury item is totally alien to this group," wrote SAI. "They will indulge on occasion but that is seen as more of a self-reward than a way of life."
SAI appears to argue that food marketing should increasingly work similarly to how luxury vs. value messaging works in other categories. Messaging to Food Elites should be "grounded in high level food culture" and emphasize factors that are "more representative of higher socioeconomic status: use of more complex language, known to correlate with higher educational levels, and use more words and claims related health."
Messaging to Food Realists should focus on family recipes, family traditions and Americana. Said SAI, "Emphasize these roots and conceptually make reference to these proud traditions."