Ironically heralding it as a “hidden opportunity,” a new study from the Hartman Group reveals that eating alone is becoming one of those new normals.
The study found that 46 percent of adults report they typically eat meals alone, up from 44 percent in 2010. And over half of adult alone-eating occasions take place in the home.
The trends driving the rise:
- Households transitions post-World War II: Mothers joining the work force, single-parent households and technology such as television have all reduced the frequency of traditional, sit-down "family meals."
- Dining communally loses importance: The social benefits of eating together have gradually waned over the last 50 years. While the “family dinner” is rare, almost unheard of is workers and school children returning home midday for family lunches.
- Less time to consume foods: Many meals today are focused more around the “mechanics of eating and not the celebration of food occasions.” The study noted how pervasive eating at work desks has become. Mobile technology proliferation in recent years has led many to eat alone even in rooms with others.
- The snackification of meals: Americans eat any time of the day, often to bridge gaps between meals due to long work and commute times. Eating smaller meals more frequently is increasingly seen as healthier.
With many marketing to “iconic meals of the past,” an opportunity to target eating alone occasions is being missed, particularly addressing two “pitfalls” of eating alone. The first is that people eating solo, without others around to help gauge proper portions, tend to eat too much. People also often develop “introspective nutritional fixations” without conversational distraction during mealtimes.
Significant opportunities were seen to exist developing single-portion-oriented baked, prepared and refrigerated stations that enable shoppers assembling meals-for-one to mix and match new tastes and cuisines. Whole Foods’ and Wegmans’ prepared foods sections were cited as examples.
While eating alone more, consumers are still “seeking ways in which to celebrate it” opening up opportunities to customize and personalize those eating occasions. Wrote Hartman, “Food to go, portable foods and premium “snacks” all can be crafted together to form a meal for one.”
With Trader Joe’s salad kits or Sabra Hummus singles cited as examples, packaging can also “shift solitary dining from a lonely occasion to something fun by serving as an interactive and pleasurable distraction.”
At retail, deli food stations such as olive bars can lift the shopping experience for those looking for baby splurges in shopping for themselves. The study states, “As they eat alone, consumers increasingly aggregate snack items to become a meal - thereby underscoring just how much eating styles have changed."