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Changes in Consumer Food Expenditure Patterns

I N RECENT YEARS, considerable changes have been taking place in the nature and amount of food expenditures by the American consumer. These changes have affected every form of retail food operation-supermarkets, convenience stores, fast food operations, and restaurants. Although recognized and even shaped by some in the business community, these changes have been inadequately measured or articulated. The purpose of this article is to enumerate how overall food expenditures have changed and to identify the present relationships between such expenditures and selected socio-economic variables. From these analyses, the possible retail implications are detailed and discussed. The recent publication by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the results of a national consumer expenditures survey of 23,000 households, conducted between 1972 and 1974, now provides detailed information on average weekly food expenditures and how they have changed since the previous study in 19601961. The survey was conducted by the Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). A diary survey collected information on expenditures on foods and certain routinely purchased non-foods, such as housekeeping supplies and personal care products. Information on other less frequently purchased goods, such as household durables, was obtained through quarterly recall surveys during 1972-1974. To date, the results from the BLS diary survey have been published in a series of reports which we have combined, analyzed, and interpreted." It should be noted that the data analyses reported in this article are based on 1972-1974 information. Food expenditures, and their relationships with population characteristics, cannot be assumed to be static. They have changed since 1974, and will continue to change throughout this decade. However, it can be expected that most of the trends revealed by these data will continue to develop in the same direction.