A recent forecast from Technomic projects that the U.S. food industry will grow by 3.9% overall in 2017. Read on for more highlights.
Foodservice is expected to grow more than retail, with supermarket fresh prepared foods leading the way
- Foodservice sales are forecast to grow by 4.8%, compared to 3.0% growth for food retail.
- Within the foodservice category, the following growth rates are projected:
- Supermarket fresh prepared foods – 8.9%
- Restaurants and bars – 5.0%
- Other foodservice – 3.9%
Traditional grocery will continue losing share to “nontraditional” channels
- Traditional grocery sales – including supermarkets, supercenters, and mass merchandisers – are expected to grow by 1.6% in 2017.
- Other grocery channels are projected to grow by 5.1%.
- Retail grocery categories with the largest forecast growth include:
- Online – 19.8%
- Fresh format – 9.1%
- Limited assortment – 6.5%
- Two retail grocery categories are expected to see declines: mass merchandisers (-4.0%) and “all other” (-5.9%).
