GARNER, NC. — Butterball LLC released its Togetherness Report: Capitalizing on Consumer Appetite for Shared Meals, which examines the impact of consumer shopping behavior on preparing shared meals beyond the holidays.

Butterball defines a shared meal as a planned meal prepared and eaten at home with other people. This could include immediate family meals, casual meals with family or friends, and special occasion meals.

“For 70 years, Butterball has helped new and seasoned hosts prepare the perfect Thanksgiving centerpiece to foster togetherness through food; however, there are numerous opportunities and a strong desire for people to gather over shared meals throughout the year,” said Kyle Lock, Butterball’s vice president of retail and international marketing. “We examined the changing dynamics in human connection, and by sharing these insights, Butterball hopes to shed light on opportunities for grocery retailers to create a tailored shopping experience for consumers. Butterball believes in the power of food to bring people together and anticipates this trend will continue to grow, bringing additional moments of impact for grocery retailers.”  

In May, Butterball conducted a survey of among a sample of 2,127 US grocery shoppers aged 24 and up.

The survey found that, while Americans want to gather for meals, they find that busy schedules are the top barrier holding them back from doing so as frequently as they would like. Other barriers include limited hosting space, insufficient time to plan and prepare meals, limited cooking abilities and lack of new recipe ideas.

Nearly 70% of consumers expressed a desire to increase their frequency of shared meals despite their busy schedules. The report added that 80% of those who have increased shared meals over the past two years say their lives are very rewarding, compared to only 60% of those who have shared meals less often.

When having a shared meal, 87% of consumers prefer shopping in store for food items rather than using time-saving options like ordering online for pickup or delivery.

Expense is not a major concern for consumers when it comes to shared meals. Younger generations — Generation Z and Millennials — in particular are willing to spend significantly more on groceries for shared meals.

With consumers claiming some grocery stores to be more preferable than others when shopping for shared meals, Butterball highlighted opportunities for retailers to help attract more of these kinds of shoppers. As one piece of advice, Butterball suggested providing digital options like publishing recipes online and in-app ingredient lists. Retailers could adapt to other shopper preferences by making recipe bundle kits or updating store organization for an easy, in-store shopping experience, noted Butterball.