Consumer Trends

Smaller Portions a Bigger Concern

While the public impression is that Americans are into super-sizing meals, research now shows that smaller portions are gaining fans. The NPD group recently compiled a list of 30 factors in an effort to determine which attributes consumers of different generations associate most with healthy eating. Among these 30, “smaller portions” continually rose to the top.

  • 43% of the over 5,000 adults surveyed indicated that they ate smaller portions always or most of the time in the past year.
  • “Eating smaller portions” ranked 11 out of 30 in importance among all generations
  • “Eating smaller portions” ranked 8th in importance among consumers aged 21-34
  • “Eating smaller portions” ranked 7th in importance among consumers aged 35-45
  • “Eating smaller portions” ranked 12th in importance among consumers aged 46-54
  • 57% of respondents aspire to eat smaller portions in the coming year

“Based on the interest in smaller portions among the younger age groups and the size of these age groups, portion control is an area of opportunity for food manufacturers,” said Dori Hickey, director, product management at NPD and author of the report.

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