NFRA Fires Up 'Cool Food for Kids' Effort

The National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association (NFRA) is firing up its "Cool Food for Kids" educational outreach program, whose central message touts that frozen and refrigerated foods are versatile, convenient and easy products for children, young adults and parents to create fresh, quality meals. 

To help retailers understand just how shoppers are shopping, we asked the SupermarketGuru.com Consumer Panel to share how they shop.

The results: in 2016, frozen has become more important to shoppers than ever before. They are seeking healthier and more indulgent offerings, more sustainable and transparent sources of their foods, and ways to save money and tcope with what is at the top of many lists: eliminating food waste.

• Over 58 percent of respondents purchase ice cream or novelties at least once a month with more than 31percent purchasing more than once a month. Meanwhile 7 percent are indulging every week.
   
• Over 97 percent of respondents typically make a purchase in the dairy aisle. Nearly 40 percent typically purchase more than 3 items. A majority of people, 58 percent, purchase 3 items or less.
   
• Even with so many new milk alternative choices, over 77percent of respondents still purchase dairy milk. Even so, sales of milk alternatives have a respectable household penetration with over 44percent of respondents purchasing some type of milk alternative. Almond milk remains the most popular type of milk alternative with 43percent of the purchases.
   
• Besides dairy staples, refrigerated juice is the most popular of our survey items to be purchased on a regular basis by over 46 percent of respondents.
   
• Forty-four percent of respondents grocery shop in bulk once per week. Eighty-six percent of respondents are in the grocery store at least once a week.

Our panel respondents were 56 percent female and equally divided among all age groups between 18 and 75.

I support NFRA’s Cool Food for Kids Nutrition Education Program, and I hope you will too. Visit EasyHomeMeals.com for more information.