PMR: Who enjoys grocers’ food-to-go offer?

Wpis dostępny jest także w języku: polski

In a PMR survey of a representative sample of Poles carried out in November 2020, 56% of respondents stated that they had bought a freshly prepared hot food item in a grocery store (e.g. a hot dog, a burger, a sandwich, etc.) at least once during the past six months. And nearly two thirds – 64% – bought a packaged ready meal.

Among ready meals, our survey found that the most purchased category, and by a big margin, are flour-based deli dishes such as pierogi dumplings, pancakes, or croquettes, mentioned by 82% of the ready-meal buying respondents. Fresh salads ranked second on 43%, and mayonnaise-based salads third on 26%. Nearly a quarter buy full dinner meals, both Polish (e.g. a breaded pork chop or patty with mashed potatoes and some vegetables; bigos hunter’s stew, etc.) and foreign ones (e.g. Asian, Italian). Ready-to-heat soups are bought by 22% and sushi by 16%.

There are some differences between the sexes. A higher proportion of women than men buy fresh salads and flour-based deli dishes. The reverse pattern was observed in the case of mayonnaise-based salads, full dinner meals and soups, which are more popular among men. Sushi is equally popular among both sexes.

Preferences correlate with age

Respondents aged 55 years and older are less likely than average to buy full dinner meals, soups and sushi, and somewhat more likely to buy fresh salads and flour-based deli dishes. (The proportion who buy mayonnaise-based salads is close to the average.)

Full dinner meals are most popular among the youngest respondents, aged 18-34 years. This is especially true of meals from foreign cuisines (35%, compared to 27% among 35-54 year-olds and 13% among those aged 55 and older).

Vegetarians like ready meals

Respondents who identified themselves as vegetarian or vegan were significantly more likely than average to have bought a packaged ready meal in the past six months (78% vs. 64%). This may have to do with the fact that vegetarians and vegans tend to be younger than the general population.

Compared to meat-eaters, a higher percentage of vegetarians and vegans buy fresh salads (60% vs. 42%), full dinner meals from foreign cuisines (35% vs. 24%), and ready-to-heat soups (37% vs. 21%).

For more information please see PMR report: Food to Go retail market in Poland 2020/2021.

Magdalena Filip

Senior Retail Analyst

A senior analyst with ten years of specialisation in the retail market in Poland and Central and Eastern Europe. Areas of specializations: clothing and footwear retail market, HoReCa market, and children’s products market.