FMI – The Food Industry Association released The Power of Foodservice at Retail 2025 report, revealing a significant shift in consumer dining habits: consumers are increasingly choosing deli-prepared foods in place of restaurant meals, with this share more than doubling from 12% in 2017 to 28% in 2025. Many shoppers are also blending the best of both worlds: more than half of Americans (53%) now take a hybrid approach to create meals, combining deli-prepared options with items from their own kitchen.
“Consumers are increasingly viewing deli-prepared foods as a true alternative to restaurant dining, not just a convenient option,” said Allison Febrey, senior manager, research and insights at FMI. “This shift reflects how shoppers are redefining value in food: they want meals that deliver on quality and variety but also save time and money. This trend is substantiated by the steady growth in retail foodservice dollar sales rising 1.6% to $52.1 billion over the past 12 months.”
Consumers eat more “deli-prepared” from groceries
“With more than half of Americans shopping for hybrid meal occasions, there’s a real opportunity for retailers to support lunches and dinner time,” said Rick Stein, vice president of fresh foods at FMI. “Shoppers are purchasing deli-prepared options most frequently between noon and 5 p.m., and want the flexibility to pair fresh, high-quality prepared items with ingredients at home, creating meals that balance time savings and meet their well-being goals.”
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“Having a signature item helps retailers ground their value proposition to the consumer,” said Andrew Brown, senior manager, industry relations at FMI. “This helps reduce decision fatigue, and if you deliver on quality and taste, you will have customers coming back again and again for that exact item.”
Key Insights
The Power of Foodservice at Retail consumer survey was programmed in Qualtrics to be administered online to a nationally representative sample of 1,571 U.S. grocery shoppers who are 18 years of age or older. The survey was conducted between July 21 and August 5, 2025. There is a maximum sampling error of+/-2.5 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. In addition, NielsenIQ provided data from its AOD data base
and Total Food View panel.
- Twenty-three percent of shoppers cite that they are buying less at quick service or fast casual restaurants. In contrast, shoppers report relatively stable amounts of foodservice purchases from grocery stores, with 85% reporting they are buying more or the same compared to last year.
- Breakfast increased the least, with a net change of six percentage points. The study shows consumers consider deli-prepared food more affordable than eating out (55%), but the deli department still needs to increase its food’s appetizing quality.
- Convenience drives shoppers to purchase grocery deli-prepared foods, and shoppers expect more convenience from their deli departments. Convenience is the top winner across areas such as amenities, food options, and special occasions.
- Grocery stores have an opportunity to showcase their signature foodservice items further. As 50% of consumers find the deli-prepared foods at their store to be only somewhat appetizing, raising the reputation of grocery-deli prepared food is vital.
- Shoppers are most interested in familiar cuisine types, such as American (90%), pizza (95%) and salads (80%). However, shoppers have increasingly varied interests. Shoppers, on average, show interest in over eight cuisine types, which demonstrates their desire for exploration.
- Shoppers like having choices. Currently, 69% of shoppers report their grocery deli-prepared department as having just the right amount of options. Twenty-three percent report that there are not enough options, and only eight percent say there are too many options.