The Winners And Losers For Category Sales During The First 7 Months Of The Pandemic

Walking into a grocery store during the pandemic was a different experience — some shelves were unexpectedly cleared out, while others were filled with unwanted products. 

As consumer lifestyles have shifted over the past seven months, so have their shopping habits. More than four out of five consumers said the pandemic pushed them to cook, consume, buy and think about food differently, according to the International Food Information Council.

So what categories ended up being the winners and losers for sales during the pandemic? Using data collected by Nielsen, Food Dive examined the food and beverage categories that saw the biggest increases and decreases in dollar sales since March. 

Oat milk, yeast, meat alternatives, crab and lobster were the five products in the food and beverage categories in the Nielsen data that saw the largest increase in dollar sales during the 31-week period, which equates to roughly seven months of the pandemic, ending Oct. 3.

With consumers quarantining at home, many turned to their ovens for comfort. Bread-making became big business. Instead of buying premade cupcakes and dessert bars, which both saw decreases in sales, consumers bought the ingredients to make breads and baked goods themselves. Yeast sales jumped 156% from the same period last year and many customers spent weeks trying to find a bag of flour.