MARKET RESEARCH

The 2017 Menu Tracking Study was conducted with the objective of tracking honey inclusions on menus within key operators and categories.

This study utilized the MenuTrends and U.S. and Independents database for findings. The sample was an even split of chains and independents and was balanced to the U.S. restaurant census by segment, region, and cuisine type. It also captures both ethnic and non-ethnic restaurants with 25 different cuisine types.

Key findings include:

• Honey is one of the top sauces/flavors on restaurant menus and has grown steadily over the last decade. As of 2017, honey appears on 57.5% of US restaurant menus, an increase of 11% since 2011.
• Fast-casual operators off the highest average number of honey items on menus at 4.4 times. Fine dining has the largest honey penetration of all segments at 69%.
• Breakfast is the fastest-growing daypart for honey menuing, though all dayparts are showing growth. On breakfast menus, honey has been appearing more frequently in breakfast bowls with yogurt and/or granola.
• Operators are increasingly adding honey to their alcoholic beverage menus in the form of cocktails and to non-alcoholic beverages like ice tea, lemonade, and juice.
• Honey has seen strong 4-year growth being paired with trending foods like quinoa, brussel sprouts, and Greek yogurt.

Click here to download the full Honey Menu Tracker study.

The New Products report was conducted to baseline and identify new product launches in the US from January to December 2016 to inform and inspire future honey growth strategies, specifically within the categories of cereal, bakery, spreads, hot and cold drinks, sweeteners, and alcoholic beverages.

Key findings include:

• New products with honey represent a ~4% share of all new introductions in 2016 and have demonstrated consistent growth in the last five years.
• Cereal, baked goods, and alcoholic beverages are almost half (45%) of all new honey product launches. Snacks, sauces, and spreads reflect almost one-quarter of honey's new product launches. Year over year growth was experienced across all categories, with the exception of cereals and sauces/seasonings.
• Cereal and cereal bars as a category experienced gains from last year and currently own the largest share of new honey product launches.
• National bakery introductions remained relatively flat from 2015 to 2016; however, honey products in the category experienced a 6% point gain during this period. Sugar still dominates baked goods at a 77% share.
• Spreads reflect 7% of all new product launches with honey; however, there has been a 44% increase in new product introductions since 2015.
• Beverage innovation with honey grew year over year; however, that was driven by hot beverages with almost doubled. Cold beverages have been experiencing declines over the past 3 years.
• The alcoholic beverage category experienced the largest percent change growth (+72%) from the previous year. Honey represents a good size share of new products in this category at 13%.
• The sugar and sweetener category, while a small base size overall, experience the largest declines from 2015 to 2016 (-18%). However, the number of honey products in this category has increased over the past 3 years while competing sweeteners have remained stagnant or experienced more volatile trends.

Click here to download the full New Product Introductions report.

This 2016 Nielsen Category Review looks at the honey category in the retail space. Areas featured include:

• Growth of honey category by pounds and dollars at retail
• Branded vs. private label honey
• Household penetration and buying rate
  • Purchase frequency and purchase size
• Retail outlets (grocery, club stores, etc.)
• Regional market growth
• Container preference among consumers
• Honey buyer household demographics

Click here to download the full Nielsen Category Review.

This 2015 Nielsen Category Review looks at the honey category in the retail space. Areas featured include:

• Growth of honey category by pounds and dollars at retail
• Branded vs. private label honey
• Household penetration and buying rate
  • Purchase frequency and purchase size
• Retail outlets (grocery, club stores, etc.)
• Regional market growth
• Container preference among consumers
• Honey buyer household demographics

To get a better understanding of how consumers perceive honey, as well as how they use it, the National Honey Board conducted a usage and attitude survey at the beginning of 2013. In January, a total of 501 households, which consisted of men and women between the ages of 21 and 74, were interviewed using random digit dialing, including 20 percent cell phones (new for 2013).

Some key findings include:

• From 2012 to 2013, there was an increase from 54 percent to 70 percent in consumers reporting that they purchased honey in the past year. Among moms, honey purchases increased from 61 percent to 75 percent in the past year.
• Among Current Users who say their households are consuming more honey than last year, there was an increase from 16 percent in 2012 to 31 percent who cite that honey is healthier/better for them.
• Honey continues to be used predominantly for food-related purposes, including in tea (55%), as an ingredient in a recipe (51%), and on toast/biscuits/muffins/cornbread (46%).
• Over half of consumers are likely to use honey for non-food purposes. Among non-food purposes, consumers are most likely to use honey as a cough suppressant. One in five moms reports using honey as a cough suppressant/throat soother (19%).
• From 2012 to 2013, there was a slight increase from 65 to 70 percent of consumers reporting that it is extremely or very important to them that honey is pure.
• Current Users are most likely to incorrectly assess the statements about purity: "Pure honey has ingredients other than honey," "The darker the honey, the more pure it is," and "Honey without pollen is not honey," all of which are false.

In order to better understand consumer's perceptions of honey and how they use it, the National Honey Board conducted a usage and attitude survey. In 2012, a total of 512 households, which consisted of men and women between the ages of 21 and 74, were interviewed using random digit dialing.

Some key findings include:

• Compared to 2009, significantly more current users indicate they have consumed "much more" or "somewhat more" honey in the past year (32% versus 15%).
• 85% of current users report that honey is used at least once a month in their household.
• Honey continues to be used predominantly for food-related purposes, including in tea (67%), as an ingredient in a recipe (64%) and on toast/biscuits/muffins/cornbread (62%).
• More respondents report using honey for non-food purposes this year than in 2009; of note, women, adults over 50, non-Caucasians and parents are the most likely groups to report using honey as a cough-suppressant.
• The percentage of detractors – those who say they either "probably would not buy" or "definitely would not buy" honey – has declined to 47% from 2009 (57%) and 2006 (87%).

In order to drive the National Honey Board's (NHB) educational campaign for consumers and health care professionals, the NHB conducted focus groups and a nationally fielded online survey which revealed a need for more education around babies and honey. The NHB research consisted of three focus groups among moms and three focus groups among health care professionals. Directional findings from the focus groups helped form questions that were given in an online nationwide survey of 500 moms with children ages 5 and younger fielded March 23-30th 2011.

Some key findings include:

• More than half (57%) erroneously think babies should be 2 years or older before feeding them honey.
• Only 15 percent of moms say they were afraid their child might inadvertently eat honey before age one.
• A third of moms (34%) say they use honey rarely or never; less than a quarter say they use it regularly (23%).
• Moms are nearly as likely to think honey is a potential allergen as they are to identify its association with bacterial illness (36% avoid feeding infants honey because it's an allergen, 39% avoid due to its association with bacterial illness).
• Only one percent of moms chose "risk of botulism" as a reason to avoid feeding infants honey.
• 93% of moms would be more likely to use honey as a cough suppressant if their pediatrician's office suggested it (78% very or somewhat more likely).

2010 Honey usage is growing among foodservice operators, according to a survey conducted by Technomic, Inc. on behalf of the National Honey Board. More than one in five Honey Trends Survey respondents (21 percent) expect to use more honey in 2011, and a resounding 99 percent expect to use as much or more honey next year as in 2010. New menu items (34 percent) and greater demand (22 percent) were cited as key factors for honey's growing usage.

Survey results show honey is a preferred sweetener, second only to sugar. Nine out of 10 operators purchase honey, and more than three-fourths (76 percent) purchase honey at least once a month. Notably, customer demand and trends (82 percent) were only narrowly beat by cost (85 percent) in terms of their influence on sweetener purchasing decisions at foodservice. Sixty percent of operators indicated that purity/all natural attributes are extremely or very important when purchasing sweeteners, with wholesome image close behind at 56 percent.

Every 3 to 4 years, the National Honey Board surveys general consumers to find out what they think about honey and how they are using it. In 2009 a total of 521 households, which consisted of men and women between the ages of 21 and 74, were interviewed using random digit dialing.

Some key findings include:

• 65% of households currently use and have honey in their home, a decrease from 2006 (82%).
• 60% of respondents report purchasing honey within the past year.
• One-quarter of the total number of respondents do not know that pure honey has no other ingredients. Those that believe there are ingredients added to honey expect to find various syrups, sugars and/or preservatives on the ingredient listing.
• More than two-fifths of households indicate they are willing to pay a premium of about 10% for whole wheat bread, barbeque sauce and breakfast cereal made with honey.
• Of the total number of respondents, it is reported that honey is primarily used as a sweetener in beverages and/or as a spread on toast, and subsequently is used most often at breakfast.

This study investigated the uses and attitudes towards honey in Hispanic Moms. Focus groups were conducted in three major Hispanic cities - Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami - with a total of 65 participants.

Some key findings include:

• The vast majority of moms across markets use honey as a sweetener in tea or a cold/sore throat remedy.
• Most reported paying between $3-5.00 for a small jar of honey.
• Virtually none of the participants went out of their way to get honey from other countries.