On the go catering: the desire for well-being and attention to healthy eating is growing
As 2022 drew to a close we witnessed the recovery of travel after the pandemic crisis. Leading this recovery that involves all channels (from highways to railways and flights) are the younger generations and in particular Generation Z and the Millennials, with the former preferring trains while the latter focused on cars and planes. This recovery has led the Autogrill Group, the world leading operator in catering services for travellers, to enhance its food experience in all areas. At the same time, the desire for well-being and attention to a balanced and healthy diet is also growing. Italians are, in their purchasing decisions, showing a preference for those brands committed to sustainable initiatives and corporate social responsibility. These are some of the major findings of the Next Normal in Travel Research, conducted by NielsenIQ on behalf of Autogrill. This research aimed to analyse consumer behaviour following the pandemic with a sample of 26,841 adult travellers via motorways, airports and railways in Italy, the United States United States, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Switzerland and Belgium.
Among the main factors that emerged from the survey is increased attention to well-being and a balanced diet, with growing demand for products that are not only tasty but also healthy. In indicating the factors that determine products chosen, travellers from the eight countries identified naturalness and freshness of food as key elements; the presence of natural ingredients, rich in nutrients and without preservatives; low sugar, fat and calorie content; the origin of the product consumed en route. In Italy, about half the travellers, especially the younger generations, were more inclined to choose healthy foods especially in airports (56%) and railway stations (45%), where longer waits for connections lead people to take more time for a quality break. On the other hand, on the motorway, where breaks are shorter, the choice of healthy products drops to 41%.
For Italians and in particular for 73% of travellers at airports, 71% of those using trains and 65% using motorways when purchasing prefer brands committed to sustainable initiatives and corporate social responsibility. Among these, those considered most important are, in order, attention to food safety, the reduction of food waste, the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, the adoption of plastic-free solutions and the use of zero km products. Autogrill for example has been adopting Initiatives that combine greater attention to ESG issues for some time, such as the processing of innovative green materials, from Wascoffee, developed starting from coffee waste, and Wasorange, deriving from orange juice waste. As well the first Wascoffee Lab concept entirely made with 100% natural and recyclable material, developed from using coffee grounds, opened in Milan Central Station recently.