Consumer and Corporate Food Gifting in the US, 9th Edition

Report Overview

Why Choose Food Gifts Over Other Gifting Options?

• Food gifts are convenient and often available for purchase online with fast delivery directly to the recipient.

Consumer and Corporate Food Gifting in the US is the go-to source for a complete understanding of consumer and corporate food gifting trends. This report combines Packaged Facts’ extensive monitoring of the food and beverage market with proprietary surveys, and evaluates current trends and future directions for marketing and retailing, along with consumer patterns during the pandemic and inflation era and across the broader food and beverage market.
 

Learn more about the Food Gifting Market with this blog. 
With numerous gifting options available, consumers and businesses may choose food gifts instead of other products with the hopes that recipients will enjoy and use the food gifts and have an appreciation for food gifts because they are treats the recipient might not ordinarily buy. According to Packaged Facts’ November-December 2023 National Online Consumer Survey, 59% of consumers have purchased food gifts for others in the last 12 months, while 65% have bought food gifts for themselves.

Gourmet foods are often a special indulgence for recipients. This is also a main reason that some people buy food gifts to treat themselves. A food gift that helps the giver provide enjoyment, utility, and uniqueness makes both the giver and recipient satisfied.

However, it is clear that choosing food gifts over other types of gifts also involves some of the innate functions of food gifts. Many people think that food gifts are convenient to send to others since they can easily be purchased online and delivered directly to the recipient. They are also good for people who “don’t need anything” since consumers tend to think that food gifts do not contribute to clutter like other gifts. It is likely that a food gift will be consumed, while a non-food gift may simply take up space or never be used. Since food gifts are usually a quickly “disappearing gift” due to being consumed soon after receipt, they may be favored over other types of gifts that last longer such as clothing, stuffed animals, hand lotion, candles, and coffee mugs that contribute to clutter or may not be used.

With a focus on “what’s next” and current consumer trends, Consumer and Corporate Food Gifting in the US is packed with insights about consumers trends, behavior, and motivations to help food producers, retailers, packaging companies, employers, and investors gauge consumer perspectives and find areas for growth in a competitive market.

Consumer and Corporate Food Gifting in the US delivers actionable predictions and recommendations designed to guide producers, retailers, and investors in making business decisions by providing data and insights about food gifting.

Scope

This Packaged Facts report analyses the $42 billion consumer and corporate food gifting market. Consumer and corporate food gifting sales are projected to grow at an average rate of 5.2% annually through 2028.

Consumer demographics, perceptions, motivations, and behavior are examined for food gift purchasers and recipients. Overall food and health habits and attitudes are also examined.

Corporate and consumer retail sales of food gifts are provided in billion dollars from 2018 to 2023, with sales projected from 2024 to 2028. Sales are segmented by consumer-purchased gifts and corporate-purchased gifts.

The food gifting market includes food gifts ranging from baskets of treats to eat while watching football to food gift baskets given to people on Christmas or birthdays. Food gifts can be purchased for any occasion or no occasion, for someone else or for oneself. While some food gifts, particularly assortments, may include beverages such as coffee or alcohol, those products as standalone gifts are excluded from this report (e.g., a single bottle of wine given as a gift and selected by the buyer). Food baskets refer to prepackaged assortments of foods and beverages, not consumer-assembled baskets of these items.

There are many prepackaged food gifts available in the marketplace. These include:

• Boxed chocolates/candies

• Cheese assortments

• Coffee/tea/hot chocolate gifts

• Cooking condiment sets

• Food baskets/assortments

• Fruit baskets/gifts

• Gift baskets or packages with wine or other alcoholic beverages

• International/imported food gifts

• Meat/deli/seafood food gifts

• Nut/salty snack food gifts

• Popcorn tins/gifts

• Sweet baked food gifts

• Sweet condiment sets

• U.S. regional or souvenir food gifts

• Other food gifts, such as meal kits or prepackaged meals

The reasons for and implications of shifts in consumer perception and behavior are analyzed in the context of future market opportunities.

Additionally, Consumer and Corporate Food Gifting in the US has dozens of tables highlighting numerical survey data on consumer demographics and psychographics as well as numerous marketing photographs. This report goes in-depth on COVID-19 and inflation trends that have affected the food and beverage market.

Report Methodology

The information contained in Consumer and Corporate Food Gifting in the US was developed from primary and secondary research sources. Primary research includes interviews with food and beverage market experts; participation in and attendance at food industry events; and extensive internet canvassing.

Primary research also includes national online consumer polls of U.S. adult consumers (age 18+) conducted on an ongoing basis by Packaged Facts to analyze attitudes of consumers and their relevant food and beverage preferences.

Survey data from MRI-Simmons are used to analyze the demographics and psychographics of consumers.

Supplementing Packaged Facts’ exclusive surveys are analysis of the 2022 and 2023 Food & Health Surveys conducted by the International Food Information Council, which analyze consumer food purchase decisions, diet and lifestyle choices, snacking activity, and perception of health benefits in foods.

Frequency of Grocery Shopping in 2023: In-Person vs. Online

The International Food Information Council’s (IFIC) 2023 Food and Health Survey conducted in May 2023 indicated that online ordering frequency may be decreasing somewhat compared to 2022, though overall use of online shopping was largely unchanged. In the organization’s 2021 survey, 20% of consumers reported buying groceries online at least once per week; that number rose to 25% in 2022 and fell to 23% in 2023.

Online grocery shopping activity skyrocketed in 2020 as the pandemic prevented some people from getting out to shop. Concerns about COVID-19 were very high in 2020 because a vaccine was not yet available for the public. As concerns have waned, people are no longer shopping for groceries online because of the pandemic. Instead, online grocery shopping has become an established habit for some people, largely for convenience.

Food gifts are convenient to order online and are most often ordered online to be shipped directly to the gift recipient. It is important to note that food gifts are not often picked up or delivered locally as with general online grocery purchases. It is also important to note that greater varieties of food gifts are available for purchase online than in many local stores; this is particularly true of smaller companies that ship products directly to customers (or their gift recipients) but lack traditional retail distribution.

Use of Meal Kit Delivery Services

Corresponding with increased use of online grocery shopping services, some consumers have also reported ordering more meal kits for home delivery during the pandemic. However, it is important to note that use of meal kit delivery services does not appear to be as “sticky” of a habit as general online grocery shopping, as the percentages of those reporting they are ordering fewer meal kits has often equaled or exceeded the percentages of those who are ordering more meal kits.

In December 2022, 17% of consumers reported they were ordering more meal kits than they had before the pandemic, while 16% were ordering fewer. Many consumers had changed their cooking habits and use of meal kits during the pandemic and were continuing their behaviors even as the pandemic itself was no longer having much of an impact on people’s decisions.

Meal kit delivery services are often given as gifts to provide a recipient with a new “cooking experience”. They can be convenient for those who do not know how to cook but are trying to learn, as meal kits contain step-by-step instructions to prepare a meal. Meal kits can also reduce food waste and/or help someone adhere to a diet since all meals contain pre-portioned ingredients for the recipe at hand.

Market leader HelloFresh offers 30+ menu items each week for various interests, including vegetable meals for vegans, vegetarians, and other plant-forward consumers; “fit and wholesome” meals for health-focused people; quick and easy recipes for those who don’t have a lot of time to cook; and family-friendly meals that are “picky eater approved”.