How is the pandemic affecting purchases of canned food around Europe?

The UK showed the highest proportion of consumers who have changed their purchasing habits with canned goods. Credit: photka / Shutterstock.

Covid-19 has impacted consumer habits around the world, with many shoppers now having to deal with food shortages and delivery bottlenecks in order to feed themselves and their families. At the forefront of Covid-19 food habits is the reliance on shelf-stable food products; in the early days of the pandemic, panic buying saw many consumers stockpile items such as beans, soups and other canned food goods.

GlobalData’s Covid-19 weekly tracker consumer survey shows how consumer habits vary by country; in week 3, 46% of Swedish respondents said they do not purchase these pack types and do not intend on doing so in the future, and only 1% stated they are purchasing more canned or tinned items. In contrast, in Italy, a country that is experiencing one of the worst outbreaks, only 20% stated that they do not purchase these pack types, whilst 11% said that they are purchasing more tins than before the virus.

In the surveyed European countries, the UK indicated the largest proportion of consumers who have changed their purchasing habits with canned food, with 7% of respondents stating that they are purchasing ‘significantly more’, or bulk buying, such items.

The long term outlook is that while lockdowns will inevitably be lifted, social distancing practices may be in place for an extended period; this will in turn continue to affect consumer purchasing habits, with consumers opting to shop less often and buy more canned items as a result.

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