Despite the pandemic’s acceleration of omnichannel shopping, ecommerce sales for specialty foods are slowing down: in 2022 it moderated to a year-over-year change of 15 percent, down from 2021’s 28 percent growth, according to SFA’s The State of the Specialty Food Industry and 10-Year Category Tracking and Forecasts, 2023-2024 Edition.
Ecommerce growth will continue to slow over the next few years, according to the report, which forecasts 13 percent year-over-year growth in 2023, and 12 percent in 2024. Moreover, when compared to total online grocery sales, specialty continues to grow at a depressed rate.
“Today’s [specialty food consumers] remain tactile food and beverage shoppers who want to shop in stores, discover new products, and connect with their communities,” according to the research. “Additionally, many smaller specialty producers don’t enjoy convenient availability online across the most popular retailer sites, relying on less enticing larger pack sizes and minimum orders to ship direct-to-consumer.”
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