North America

With producers seeing little relief in production costs, categories across processed fruit and vegetables saw unit price increases leap by double digits in 2022. Little relief is expected in 2023, with unit price growth expected to remain in the…

Following several years of price hikes due to supply chain issues, inflationary pressures, and lockdowns, much like other categories in staple foods, processed meat, seafood and alternatives to meat has continued to experience unit price increases…

The relentless surge in food prices, driven by hyperinflation in 2022 and 2023, is reshaping the shopping habits of many Canadians. A considerable number of consumers are tightening their belts across various product categories, including meat. The…

Despite reaching record high price levels, the rice, pasta, and noodles category has experienced a modest dip in value sales. Consumers are becoming increasingly mindful of their dietary choices and are reducing their carbohydrate intake, opting for…

Despite rising prices, rice saw retail volume growth above that of pasta and noodles in 2022, and this is set to continue in 2023, although all categories are set to see rising sales. As food inflation and fears of recession have continued, consumers…

In 2023, Canada faces the challenge of record-high food inflation, with the nation experiencing the highest food inflation rates in years, as evidenced by soaring food prices despite a general decline in overall inflation. This price surge…

Similar to 2022, 2023 is set to be a challenging year for staple foods. While most of the supply chain issues from the pandemic have subsided, commodities still present an issue, some to more elevated levels, due to the persistence of the war in…

Growth continues to slow for charge cards in Canada in 2023, with the category’s relevance fading rapidly. One reason is lack of availability, with American Express morphing many of its charge cards into the realm of traditional credit cards. For the…

In 2023 the Bank of Canada has tweaked its prime interest rate several times. The impact on the housing market has been a rise in household mortgage debt. Consumers with variable rate mortgages or on the cusp of renewals have been struck especially…

2022 and 2023 saw some of the most rapid increases in lending interest rates in US history. During the pandemic, many interest rates approached record lows, leading consumers to refinance debt, and leading to a generally free lending environment. In…

Canada's credit landscape in 2023 is showing rises in lending, with more Canadians gaining access to lending products via traditional financial institutions and private lenders. At the same time, as the cost of living bears down on Canadians, thanks…

The primary challenges facing consumer lending in 2023 have been a continuation of 2022’s twin factors of higher inflation and increasing interest rates. While the story in 2022 was one of largely unchecked inflation affecting much of the US economy,…

The inflationary volatility of 2022 has continued into 2023, extending the impact on cooking ingredients and meals. Unit prices have climbed across categories in 2023, with edible oils seeing some of the largest jumps due to geopolitical strife and…

In the latter half of 2022, Canada opened its doors, discarding travel restrictions and welcoming a surge of new students and workers from overseas. Canada's financial institutions greeted these newcomers with a generous $2,000 credit card limit, and…

Canada's labour force shortage has placed mounting pressure on smaller businesses. Traditional checkouts are giving way to efficiency as s retailers scramble to optimise checkout speeds, and there is a growing trend of merchants leaning into…

The woes of edible oils in 2022 have continued to play out in 2023, as unit price rises have easily outpaced the inflationary growth of packaged food prices at-large. Many of the edible oils available in the US originate from other regions globally,…

In the wake of Covid-19 there was a notable shift away from cash transactions, while in 2023 (as in 2022) the retail value of personal cash transactions is rising rapidly. However, the surge has been fuelled by the inflation surges of 2022 and 2023.…

With the exception of the e-commerce-dominated meal kits category, in 2022 private label saw share growth across most categories in meals and soups, as consumers weathered inflated food costs. While unit price rises for ready meals look to be cooling…

Pre-paid cards is seeing continued robust rises across all metrics in Canada in 2023, with growth in some areas outshining that of 2022. This is in large part thanks to a wave of innovation from card issues that is redefining the landscape. One of…

At the end of the review period, much of sauces, dips and condiments has been characterised by the same price increases, decreasing volume sales, and increasing private label share seen in other packaged food categories. Mustard, facing inconsistency…

Store cards is recording only low growth in Canada in 2023, for several reasons. A glaring limitation lies in store cards’ narrowed reward horizons, compounded by a restricted usability across disparate retail chains. This inherent constriction has…

A salmonella outbreak in 17 states in 2022 was linked to The JM Smucker Co’s production facility, resulting in massive recalls for the leader in sweet spreads. The company’s positioning not only as a B2C player but also as an ingredient supplier for…

In 2023, the Canadian cooking ingredients and meals market is influenced by several key factors that are shaping the industry landscape. Firstly, food inflation has had a significant impact on the market, and Canada has been experiencing some of the…

Edible oils are currently experiencing one of the most significant price increases within the food group. The surging prices have raised concerns among consumers, prompting some to reduce their consumption. These price hikes, combined with growing…

The Canadian food market is experiencing a boost in meals and soups, primarily due to the surge in new product development activities. Canada's ambitious immigration programme, which has welcomed a substantial number of newcomers, has created a…

The segment of sauces, dips, and condiments is experiencing robust value growth, primarily fuelled by aggressive new product development activities conducted throughout the year. Manufacturers are introducing consumers to innovative products, with a…

Sweet spreads, often criticised for their high sugar content in products such as chocolate spreads, jams, preserves, and nut- or seed-based spreads, are undergoing a transformation. Companies are actively working to change the perception that these…

Sparkling flavoured bottled water continues to attract a high level of interest from consumers, as a natural sparkling soft drinks alternative. Sparkling flavoured bottled water is now a much bigger and more dynamic category than still flavoured…

After record-high inflation in 2022, consumer packaged goods companies have continued with necessary price actions in 2023. Most notably, carbonates has seen a unit price increase of around 10%. Companies have executed price increases using…

In Canada, there is a great deal of competition in coffee, especially as players seek to make their products more sustainable amongst an increasingly informed population that cares about the social and environmental impacts of their consumption. As a…

Concentrates are often seen as a more affordable option, driving trading across from juice. The primary appeal of powder concentrates in particular remains their affordability, offering consumers the most value in dollars per litre across…

The energy drinks category is highly competitive, but Celsius has been successful in capturing share. Unlike other leading brands, which were focused on revenue management, Celsius’s focus on reduced sugar products is expected to allow it to continue…

The value of hot drinks in retail continues to grow. This is due to both an increase in sales volume and high unit prices, driven by inflationary pressures. Instant coffee and herbal teas are especially fast-growing categories in terms of volume…

Coconut water, led by Vita Coco, is rapidly expanding its presence in retail stores beyond core channels such as warehouse clubs. It is now more widely available in supermarkets, convenience stores, and via e-commerce channels. This growth is being…

Other hot drinks is dominated by chocolate-based flavoured powder drinks, which accounted for more than 95% of volume sales in the category in 2023.

RTD coffee in the US can be thought of as multiple distinct segments, instead of a single unified category. The first products to enter the market were coffee shop-style beverages that were sweetened. Starbucks Frappuccino is the leading brand in…

RTD tea has historically been one of the most stable soft drinks categories in the US. It is a mature category with a wide variety of products targeted towards different demographics, with varying levels of sugar content. Although individual brands…

On-trade volume sales of soft drinks in the US are set to continue to grow in 2023. Much of the country has returned to somewhat normal operations, particularly during the busy summer months in terms of on-trade consumption of beverages. Higher rates…

After being impacted by record-high inflation in 2022, sports drinks has continued to see prices pushed in 2023, with high single-digit growth expected in off-trade unit prices in nominal terms. This price growth is in line with much of the soft…

In 2023, tea continues to benefit from being perceived as a healthy beverage with many benefits, such as boosting immunity or supporting digestive health. As health awareness rises, more consumers are reducing their coffee consumption and…

Over the last three years, the way in which people in the US consume coffee has undergone significant and continuing change. Initially, due to the pandemic, there was a swift shift towards drinking coffee at home, driving retail volumes and leading…

The COVID-19 pandemic has largely ended, but there has been little respite, either for the hot drinks industry specifically, or for the US as a whole, with inflation quickly replacing COVID-19 as the top concern of both companies and consumers. The…

Malt-based hot drinks experienced a surge in retail volume sales in 2020 due to COVID-19, but quickly returned to the pre-pandemic level of sales. Unfortunately, decline is expected to continue in 2023. On the other hand, chocolate-based flavoured…

Tea is not the only beverage facing supply chain challenges. However, when compared with some other beverages in the US, tea is relatively better off, as it has not been affected by harvest issues, like coffee, nor is it heavily reliant on aluminium…

Recycling and reducing food waste is well-established in the USA, creating a strong opportunity for Zero Waste product development, while implementing the Can Be Recycled claim would be welcomed by locals. There is a solid opportunity for industries…

One of the most notable shifts witnessed in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic was the shift from on-trade to off-trade. As a result, local consumers bought larger formats of bottled water to use in their homes in bulk. However, consumption…

Off-trade volume sales declined in 2023 due to ongoing negative public perceptions around carbonates. Rising health consciousness has led consumers to shift towards healthier options such as sparkling bottled water and RTD tea juices. This trend has…

Concentrates registered healthy volume growth in Canada in 2023. A return to normal levels of activity outside of the home post-pandemic has led to increased consumption of concentrates, particularly liquid concentrates, which outperformed powder…

Energy drinks received a setback in the summer of 2023 when the Canadian government recalled more than 20 popular brands, including Monster, Prime, Celsius and Sting, during the peak season for energy drink consumption. The brands were recalled…

After some contraction in 2022, juices saw positive volume growth in 2023. Much of this was attributed to growth in healthier variants, particularly 100% Juice, thanks to rising health consciousness among local consumers. Gaining notable popularity…