Covid lockdown: With eating out in containment, home come the indulgences

Kolkata | Mumbai: Consumers in metros and cities are now buying pricier, premium and healthier food products and indulgent gourmet variants, hoping to satiate the void created by their inability of eating out at restaurants and also to eat healthy.This is in contrast to initial days of lockdown when consumers loaded their pantry with basic staples such as rice, atta, oil and pulses, which were later upgraded to packaged ready to eat or cook food, jams and butter, instant noodles and masspriced chocolates.“While during the early days of lockdown basic essentials got sold, with time some discretionary sales are coming back,” said Devendra Chawla, MD at Nature’s Basket and Spencer’s Retail that saw 30-60% growth in sales for cold cuts, exotic vegetables, assorted breads and cakes, cookies, international sauces, organic range of staples in last ten days.“As people get adjusted to restricted living as the new normal and lack of options to eat out, consumers are increasingly taking on the chef role, a trend which will continue post lockdown too,” he said.For German wholesaler Metro Cash and Carry, sales of spreads, packaged soup and diet variants of salted snacks expanded more than 80% while pasta, sausages, frozen foods and confectionery have all grown between 50-75% during April compared to a year ago.“The growth in staples has slowed down in April to about 10% as compared to 25-30% growth in March, but premium food is selling extremely well,” said Arvind Mediratta, managing director at Metro Cash & Carry India, which runs 27 stores in 17 cities.“While social media is clearly agog at showcasing fancy dishes at home, ready to eat or cook fare is the closest consumers can get next to eating out option,” said Yogesh Bellani, CEO, FieldFresh Foods.

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