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The rise of the grocerant triggers rising food-safety concerns

September 15, 2016

For proof that an increasing number of Americans are purchasing "restaurant-style food" at their groceries, you need look no further than the fact that this business even has a newly coined name: The grocerant. 

In fact, supermarket-provided restaurant-style meals are becoming so popular that information company, NPD Group, launched a study on the practice in hopes of determining how safe these types of foods are to consume. The news is not great.

Since groceries are taking on more of the role of a restaurant,

they are reaping the rewards, as well as the risks that go with it." 

NPD Group has been tracking Americans’ food safety concerns for about 15 years, and the company said there appears to be a growing concern about the safe consumption of these offerings. For instance, 10 years ago, NPD found that 66 percent of those polled thought the grocery was a safe source of these prepared meals. This year, polling indicated just 58 percent of people feel the same now. 

Over roughly that same period, the number of grocerant offerings has grown nearly 30 percent since 2008, accounting last year for 2.4 billion visits and $10 billion in consumer spending. In fact, more than 40 percent of Americans buy prepared foods at the grocery now, including millennials.

NPD Group found that slightly less than half of consumers (47- 49 percent) are more concerned about the food they eat from restaurants than the food they buy from grocers. The firm said that number had remained unchanged for the last 10 years but found that consumers appear now to be as concerned about the safety of prepared food purchased at the grocery as they are about food purchased in restaurants. 

"Consumers typically rate grocery-prepared foods higher on freshness and quality than quick-service restaurants," said NPD Group Food and Beverage Industry Analyst Darren Seifer. "But more food handling issues and concerns come into play when foods are prepared for you. They are now extending the concerns they have about the safety of foods served at restaurants to supermarkets. Since groceries are taking on more of the role of a restaurant they are reaping the rewards, as well as the risks that go with it."