Before and after COVID
OOH and take-home FMCG consumption are returning to normal,
but fresh food is suffering due to soaring prices.
Out-of-home FMCG consumption has shown a slow recovery following the pandemic. Take-home FMCG reached its peak during COVID, with spending on fresh food in particular increasing rapidly, but the market is now declining, especially in rural areas.
Due to inflation and Thailand’s economic situation, consumers are spending less on core fresh food categories such as eggs, pork and fruit & veg. Fresh food is expensive – and as a result is facing a decrease in both sales and buyer base. Only bakery and fish have been able to recruit more buyers during this era of inflation.
When it comes to take-home FMCG consumption, consumers have reduced both shopping frequency and basket size. They have also become more selective, purchasing fewer categories, bringing the average number bought down to 39 categories in 2022. Shoppers also reduced the number of stores they visited to buy FMCG. This requires manufacturers and retailers to identify which products and categories are necessary and unnecessary for their shoppers, and create strategies that will encourage customers to buy more.
As COVID restrictions were relaxed, and consumers spent more time outside, food and beverage categories sustained growth in out-of-home occasions while in-home consumption declined. Home care and personal care shared a common theme: less subsidy support from the government, higher prices and less need caused both sectors to decline even further.
