From The January/February 2003 Issue of Natural Grocery Buyer

Get to Know Your Vegetarian Customer

Debra Wasserman, co-director of The Vegetarian Resource Group in Baltimore, likes to tell the story of a major supermarket that was trying to make its produce section appeal more to vegetarian, organic-friendly consumers. "They wrapped the organic veggies in plastic to distinguish them from the nonorganic," she says. "And then they didn't understand why they weren't selling."

The story illustrates Wasserman's biggest beef about selling to vegetarians: "You can't market until you know who the consumer is. Vegetarians who buy organic aren't going to want something wrapped in plastic."

Once considered a fringe, hippie element that only shopped in natural foods stores, vegetarians have gone mainstream. Chicago-based Mintel Consumer Intelligence estimates the U.S. vegetarian market will rise to $2.8 billion by 2006, up from $1.5 billion in 2002. Between 28 percent and 37 percent of Americans consider themselves vegan, vegetarian, "almost vegetarian" or "vegetarian inclined," eating four or more meatless meals a week, according to research conducted by Mintel, Zogby International, VRG and other groups.

Those veggie-inclined customers are increasingly shopping in mainstream grocery stores. Mintel found in a 2001 study that half of all vegetarian food purchased in the United States is sold in supermarkets. Vegetarian food does not include produce or packaged products, such as macaroni and cheese. It is usually defined as items that replace meat or meat-related products, such as soymilk and textured vegetable protein.

Vegetarians have various reasons for their lifestyle choices, but VRG concludes that health, including disease prevention, weight management and feeling good, is the leading driver. However, vegans and true vegetarians—those who never eat meat, poultry or fish—are more motivated by ethical considerations. This applies particularly to those under age 30.

Supermarkets can best market to vegetarians by educating themselves and their customers. "There are all these people who might buy things like tempeh if they knew what it was, [but] 99.9 percent [of mainstream customers] don't know what that stuff is," Wasserman says. The best way to do this is through promotions, demos, sampling and prepared food sales, she says.

VRG concludes that it's key that supermarkets carry an array of vegetarian foods because just like meat eaters, vegetarians like variety. Wasserman says it's important to mix vegetarian food with mainstream food, but also to have separate sections. "A vegetarian would be gung ho on having a separate section, but you have to think about people who eat meat three to four times a week. If you put the Tofu Pups with the hot dogs, someone who's never heard of them but who's shopping for hot dogs might buy them."

—Vicky Uhland