Consumer eating habits continue to evolve away from three core meals per day consumed within a generally accepted timeframe. In 2004, the OTG lunches market was worth 70 billion Euros in US and Europe. Behavior and motivation vary by country and by daypart. Time constraints are a major factor in directing food consumption but marketers must understand that convenience is just one on-the-go driver.

Scope of this report

Quantitative data outlining the current and future value of on-the-go meals by country, and the evolution of on-the-go occasions by country.
Data and analysis on mealtime occasions - core, light and missed - broken down by country
Comprehensive information on eating habits such as location, meal preferences, and preparation times.
Detailed action points offering practical strategies based on the trends and insights analyzed in the report

Research and analysis highlights

Consumers feel like they have less leisure time due to work commitments and patterns of commuting and house ownership. They seek products that give them back time and are willing to pay extra for them.

Breakfast is a key OTG mealtime occasion as the number of skipped breakfast continues to rise in Europe and US. Consumers can achieve many benefits from having a regular breakfast and many would do so if the options available were more appetizing, varied and above all convenient.

Consumers present noticeable attitude behavior gaps when balancing the drivers of taste and health. They also demonstrate some skepticism to the nutritional claims made by CPG manufacturers.

Key reasons to read this report

Understand the attitudes driving the consumption of food balanced against convenience
Improve your marketing strategy by targeting the most profitable occasions and their accompanying needstates
View best practice examples of targeting time-starved consumers with practical products that go beyond a convenience positioning

CHAPTER 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Future Decoded; Traditional mealtimes are evolving; Time pressure increasingly contributes to on-the-go eating; Other need states are increasing in importance
Action points

CHAPTER 2 THE FUTURE DECODED

Introduction: Defining on-the-go
TREND: Changes in society have driven the evolution of traditional mealtimes: The decline of the nuclear family has changed family mealtimes; People eat in a wide variety of places; Western consumers are skipping meals with increased regularity; The traditional concept of a meal is changing; A wider range of foods is being consumed at mealtimes
TREND: Time pressure increasingly contributes to on-the-go eating: Consumers feel more time pressure; Work commitments put the greatest strain on eating behavior; Modern workers have long commuting journey times; INSIGHT: Breakfast is the most commonly skipped meal; Skipped breakfast occasions vary by age group; Teenage girls in the US often miss breakfast altogether; Breakfast is linked with better mental and physical performance; Health experts agree that breakfast has a major impact on nutrition; Breakfast consumption tends to reduce daily calorie intake; Eating breakfast is a key part in staying healthy for life; Products can move beyond their traditional mealtime positioning
INSIGHT: Work has the greatest impact on on-the-go meal consumption behavior: Contemporary workloads are perceived as high; Significant growth in lunch skipping is predicted in southern Europe; US and north European consumers already have a utilitarian attitude to lunch; Average lunchtime duration is decreasing across Europe; Eating at the desk can be unhealthy; Workers often use food to beat stress
INSIGHT: Commuting is a key meals on-the-go opportunity: The morning commute is a practical breakfast opportunity; Teleworking is a threat to on-the-go meal consumption
INSIGHT: Healthy school lunches are a key opportunity: National culture drives school lunch offerings; Countries that attach lower importance to food are redressing the balance; Legislation threatens to make kids health a must; Legislation will make many lunchtime canteen options obsolete
INSIGHT: Dinner is the least likely meal to be consumed on-the-go: Dinner is seen as the most important contribution to daily nutrition; Europe and US will move away from core evening meals; Indulgence levels are higher later in the day
INSIGHT: Crammed social lives require innovative meal solutions: Young Adults are prone to pit-stop dining; Night time foodservice is a major threat to consumer packaged goods
INSIGHT: Sports and active leisure create new opportunities in OTG meals: Gym membership is rising in the US and parts of Europe; Correct nutrition can boost exercise performance and recovery
INSIGHT: On-the-go meal consumption presents attitude and behavior gaps to health: Taste is more important than health in food purchases; Consumers would like to effortlessly combine nutrition with taste; Consumers find it difficult to combine health and taste on-the-go; Consumers are skeptical about nutrition and health claims; Better clarity is needed in food labeling
INSIGHT: Seasonality has a significant impact on meal choice: In summer, consumers seek lightness and freshness; Winter weather makes consumers seek heartier fills with less emphasis on health
Conclusions

CHAPTER 3 ACTION POINTS

Introduction
Improve convenience to increase on-the-go consumption: Remove on-the-go consumption barriers with disposable cutlery; Offer more one-handed foods and liquid fills; Formulate products into convenient cupholder-sized packaging
Expand the breakfast occasion: Use indirect selling methods to increase breakfast consumption; Originate more portable breakfast foods beyond cereal bars
Target health requirements positively: Simplify labeling to improve consumer knowledge and confidence; Leverage the supply chain and consumer understanding to improve freshness; Use positive messages to sell healthier OTG options; Roll out smaller serving options for lighter meals and dieting consumers
Target the healthy energy boost as a key need state: Target time-starved consumers in relevant channels; Develop balanced co-branded nutrition solutions
Avoid linking convenience to a taste compromise: Restrict space-age technologies to relevant products; Provide hot food in convenience stores with branded microwaves
Conclusions

CHAPTER 4 APPENDIX

Supplementary data
Definitions
Research methodology
References
Report writing team
How to contact experts in your industry

List of Tables

Table 1: Retail on-the-go food market value (US$m), US and Europe, 2004
Table 2: Retail on-the-go food market value (US$m), US and Europe, 2009
Table 3: Retail on-the-go food market value CAGR, US and Europe, 2004-2009
Table 4: Retail on-the-go meal occasions (m), US and Europe, 2004
Table 5: Retail on-the-go meal occasions (m), US and Europe, 2009
Table 6: Retail on-the-go meal occasions CAGR (%), US and Europe, 2004-2009
Table 7: A top line analysis of US adult lunch locations
Table 8: Annual missed mealtime occasions per capita, Europe and US, 2004
Table 9: Favorite consumer breakfast options, US, 2005
Table 10: Average commute times, Europe and US, 2003
Table 11: Cereal bar market value (US$m), US and Europe, 1998-2008
Table 12: How much consumers are willing to pay for time-saving products and services (% respondents), US and Europe
Table 13: Global homeworking projections, by region and type, (m) 2005
Table 14: Percentage change of lunch locations of 5-17 year-olds by country, 2004-2009
Table 15: European and US consumers average time taken to prepare breakfasts, lunches, and evening meals, 2004
Table 16: Change in daily per capita evening meal occasions, US and Europe, 2004-2009
Table 17: At home alcoholic drinking occasions (m), 1999-2009
Table 18: Health club members as % of population, selected major European markets & US, 2003-2008
Table 19: Overweight or obese people by country, (% adults) 2004-2009
Table 20: Top line analysis of attitude-behavior gaps in buying taste oriented foods in Europe and the US, 2004
Table 21: European and US healthy on-the-go eating occasions (per head and total), 2004-2009
Table 22: Number of annual meal occasions (bn) by daypart and country, 2004
Table 23: Number of annual meal occasions (bn) by daypart and country, 2009
Table 24: Total on-the-move food and drink market value by country (€m / $m), 1999-2009
Table 25: Annual missed mealtime occasions per capita, Europe and US, 2009
Table 26: The growth in missed mealtime occasions, Europe and US, 2004-2009
Table 27: Percentage spread of lunch locations of 5-17 year-olds by country (% occasions), 2004
Table 28: Percentage spread of lunch locations of 5-17 year-olds by country (% occasions), 2009
Table 29: Detailed analysis of attitude-behavior gaps in buying taste oriented foods in Europe and the US, 2004
Table 30: Global homeworking projections, by country and type, (m) 2005
Table 31: Definitions
Table 32: News Sources
Table 33: Industry Sources

List of Figures

Figure 1: Several mega-trends are driving growth in on-the-go meals
Figure 2: Defining the on-the-go occasion
Figure 3: Average household size is declining in the US and Europe
Figure 4: Answers to the question "What differentiates a meal from a snack?"
Figure 5: Consumers feel they now have less leisure time, 2005
Figure 6: Time-saving products are important to US and European consumers
Figure 7: The propensity to skip breakfast varies by age in US
Figure 8: Average worked hours are declining in US and Europe
Figure 9: The relative importance of eating needs varies by daypart
Figure 10: Consumers find it hard to combine taste and health on-the-go for various reasons
Figure 11: Trust in food and drinks nutrition claims varies by country
Figure 12: Including cutlery facilitates on-the-go consumption
Figure 13: One-handed foods enable multi-tasking
Figure 14: Cupholder-sized formats appeal to commuters
Figure 15: Consumers want a variety of OTG breakfast options
Figure 16: Clear, consistent health messages simplify healthy eating
Figure 17: Super premium OTG meal options can be fresh and tasty
Figure 18: Consumers want health messages that permit occasional indulgences
Figure 19: Current sports nutrition products are relatively basic
Figure 20: Sports nutrition could develop from existing ready meals
Figure 21: Self-heating is best employed in non-gourmet products