In a year of hoarding and baking binges, the groceries Americans clamored to buy tell the story of 2020. (Photo by Jeremy Hogan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Curious about the best way to break up the monotony of quarantine? American consumers have an answer: cook outside your comfort zone.
Using data that tracks the largest year-over-year sales increases at supermarkets nationwide, Nielsen has identified the groceries U.S. shoppers clamored to buy during 2020, and not all of it is what you might expect.
Pantries were stocked with essentials like garlic and condiments. Baking binges led to yeast shortages and a rise in demand for baking powder. But big winners for this year also include lobster and crab, as well as ingredient sales for cooking projects like egg rolls and sushi, which shot up.
One possible explanation, according to Mintel global food analyst Melanie Bartelme, is that items like seafood and seaweed sheets bring the restaurant experience inside people’s homes. According to Mintel, 45% of U.S. consumers who cook are trying more new recipes than they did last year.
“This could be reflective of consumers sort of saying, ‘I can’t treat myself to a special occasion kind of food that I normally would, but I can go to the grocery store. Maybe it’s finally time for me to figure out how to make crab or lobster,’” Bartelme says.
The resounding winners of 2020 were trendy alternatives like oat milk. (Photo by Thomas URBAIN / AFP) (Photo by THOMAS URBAIN/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
The resounding winners, however, were the more trendy alternatives: Oat milk jumped 200% for more than $249 million in retail sales, while meat alternatives more than doubled to about $230 million. Cheese alternatives round it out in the ninth spot, up more than 40%, while dried beans (a naturally vegan protein source) came in at No. 13, up 38% to $550 million in retail sales.
Here are the 15 items that saw sales surge in 2020:
1. Oat milk
2020 sales: $249 million (up 208% from 2019)
2. Meat alternatives
2020 sales: $228 million (up 110% from 2019)
Meat alternatives more than doubled their retail sales this year to about $230 million. Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg
© 2019 Bloomberg Finance LP
3. Yeast
2020 sales: $120 million (up 98% from 2019)
4. Crab
2020 sales: $1.4 billion (up 63% from 2019)
Items like seafood and seaweed sheets bring the restaurant experience inside people’s homes. (Photo by: Prisma by Dukas/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Universal Images Group via Getty Images
5. Lobster
2020 sales: $413 million (up 58% from 2019)
6. Couscous
2020 sales: $19 million (up 47% from 2019)
7. Egg/spring roll and crepe wraps
2020 sales: $29 million (up 46.3% from 2019)
8. Dumplings
2020 sales: $93 million (up 45.6% from 2019)
Ingredient sales for cooking projects like dumplings shot up.
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9. Alternative cheese
2020 sales: $239 million (up 44.3% from 2019)
10. Pizza crusts
2020 sales: $173 million (up 43.8% from 2019)
11. Baking powder
2020 sales: $65 million (up 40.8% from 2019)
Baking binges led to yeast shortages and a rise in the sale of baking powder.
getty
12. Seaweed/sushi wraps
2020 sales: $13 million (up 40.7% from 2019)
13. Dried beans
2020 sales: $548 million (up 37.9% from 2019)
13. Soy sauce
2020 sales: $209 million (up 37.9% from 2019)
15. Garlic
2020 sales: $373 million (up 37.9% from 2019)
Data from Nielsen. Figures as of December 5, 2020.
Additional reporting by Margherita Beale.