According to the Arizona Republic, the Nielsen Company studied the sales of consumer goods during past recessions to see which items continue to sell and which items’ sales tend to decrease. These are the findings:
The most recession-proof items are seafood, dry pasta, candy, beer and pasta sauces.
The most recession-vulnerable items are carbonated beverages, eggs, cups and plates, food preparation and storage products, and tobacco.
It makes sense that pasta and pasta sauces—the building blocks of cheap, easy meals—continue to sell well during tough financial times. And it also makes sense that people who are trying to save money might skimp on soda, disposable cups and plates, and cigarettes. But what makes seafood and candy recession-proof? And what makes eggs recession-vulnerable? Personally, I’m more likely to eat eggs for dinner when I’m avoiding big supermarket bills. And if I’m feeling broke, I’m not going to splurge on seafood and Snickers bars—but that’s just me.
When money is tight, what kinds of foods do you focus on buying? Which do you give up?
The reason seafood is on the list can be summed up in 2 words: canned tuna.
The drop in egg sales perhaps indicates that people are baking less?
Money is tight for me right now, as a poor, divorced university staff member, so I find myself buying ramen, rice, and canned beans. I buy those 90 second pouches of brown rice from either trader joe’s or uncle ben’s. I’m trying to cut down on meat, following Mark Bittman’s recent advice about using meat as a flavoring, or treasure, rather than the focus of the meal.
black beans, corn tortillas, shredded mozzarella, canned tomatoes (on sale!) and pasta have been in my queue for at least the past month now. i can get 2 small frozen tilapia fillets for $1.79 (from peru not china so the label says), but i like to get fresh when i can since i am in maine. also vegetables, vegetables, vegetables!
Yeah, I think tuna is one reason — a can of tuna is another building block for a cheap meal. At the other end of the spectrum, fresh seafood is the kind of thing that’s bought by people who are better off to begin with and less likely to be pinching pennies.
Candy is cheap per saleable unit. Instead of spending several dollars on a bag of cookies, you can spend 69 cents on a candy bar and still satisfy your sweet tooth and feel like you’ve had a treat. The less-baking theory for eggs sounds plausible to me, but also, I think eggs are suffering from the fact that proportionally they’ve gone up a lot, leading to consumer resistence, even though compared to other protein sources they’re still relatively cheap.
Breakfast is a cheap meal anytime of the day. Two eggs, two strips of bacon, a slice of toast and a couple of pats of butter one for the toast and one for the eggs only adds up to around $1.25. I have that for supper at least once a week. Sometimes I add an envelope of instant grits.
Anyone wanting to really make a dent in their grocery bill should look into gardening as a hobby.