Consumer's Retail Source of Food: A Cluster Analysis.

The popular impression that only half of our food comes from retail grocery stores is based on food expenditure data. However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals, 1994 shows that 72 percent of the amount of food (measured in grams) consumed by Americans comes from grocery stores. Using cluster analysis, we grouped consumers based on where they obtained their food and found that half were "Home Cookers"--purchasing 93 percent of their food from grocery stores. By comparison, the "High Service" consumers, which represented 10 percent of the sample, purchased 43 percent of their food from restaurants. This research quantifies the different shopping behaviors exhibited by groups of people in the United States and discusses some of the demographic differences among the clusters. The results are of interest to consumers, nutrition counselors, food retailers, and policymakers who deal with retail food, low-income diets, or food safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]