How will the rise of 'hermit consumers' impact the future of the F&B industry?

‘Hermit consumers’ are a new type of consumer who prefers staying home to dining out.

The global food service industry is experiencing difficulties, with several channels not showing signs of recovery. One of the contributing factors to the stalled growth of the food service sector is the emergence of a new type of consumer: the hermit consumer.

'Hermit consumers' are a new type of consumer who prefers staying home to dining out. 46% of consumers globally said they intend to eat out less frequently in the next three months, whilst 11% said they will stop altogether.

Post-pandemic changes

According to a GlobalData report, the food service industry did not return to pre-pandemic normalcy in 2023, with the value of sales in the food service sector having just increased by 3% since 2019 with overall transactions declining by 3% over the same period. Dine-in sales revenue also dropped by 12% compared to 2019.

“The idea of a post-pandemic recovery for the food service industry assumes that 2020-2021 was a blip – an exogenous, once-in-a-lifetime event which would halt progress for a year or two before normal trends and consumer behaviour resumed,” said Fred Diamond, senior food consultant, consumer custom solutions at GlobalData.

“However, during that period something changed. We have changed. People are still spending, and still consuming, but in a radically different way. This new type of consumer has been termed the ‘hermit consumer’ giving rise to the ‘hermit economy’,” he added.

The ‘hermit consumers’

The idea of a hermit economy is linked to concepts such as “cocooning” which is described as the phenomenon of people preferring to stay at home more over spending time outdoors. Diamond said that from 2020 to 2021, people stayed in more due to the pandemic. But from 2022 to 2023, inflation was cited as the main driver for staying indoors.