Ex-Tesco employee shares 6 ways shoppers have changed their habits in the Covid pandemic
| Date | 01 April 2021 |
| Published date | 01 April 2021 |
All of us have been impacted by the pandemic in one way or another, and it seems the last year has also transformed our shopping habits.
And it's not surprising.
Bryan Roberts, 48, started as a Customer Service Assistant at Tesco on March 23 last year -when Boris Johnson announced the first lockdown in the UK.
He worked for Tesco for almost a year.
During that time, he noticed “quite a few big trends” in customers' shopping habits and it seems they have changed dramatically.
Here are the six pandemic shopping habits Bryan noticed whilst working for Tesco:
1 Breakfast
The ex-Tesco employee said breakfast has made a comeback during the pandemic.
“Breakfast as a meal has been in decline for decades because of changing habits,” Bryan acknowledged.
Before the pandemic he said: “People were grabbing stuff on the way to work or having breakfast at work or just simply missing out on breakfast as a meal.”
“Whereas that really came back into favour so breakfast cereals, avocados or anything remotely to do with breakfast was suddenly back in demand.”
2 Baking
Do you remember the 'bakers' that emerged in lockdown
Well, this trend was reflected in the supermarkets.
Bryan said: "The popularity of baking [had an] impact on the supplies of eggs and flour and so on."
Although, this change in shopping habits can be hardly surprising. It seemed the whole nation was obsessed with banana bread in the first lockdown!
3 “Adventurous” cooking
Due to the lockdowns, more people had time on their hands and it seems some turned to cooking.
Bryan said: “People got more adventurous with cookery.”
“The average family has four or gfive different meals on constant rotation whereas people got quickly bored of this and became a bit more adventurous.”
“So we saw higher sales in categories like World Foods, herbs and spices and fresh produce.”
4 Higher alcohol sales
Although Bryan said some shoppers were being more “mindful with health and wellness”, it seems others were purchasing more alcohol.
He said: “With the closure of pubs and restaurants, booze went through the roof and was consistently...
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