06.06.2007

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Pulse Report

PORTION CONTROL FROM A CONSUMER PERSPECTIVE

Pulse Report: Portion Control from a Consumer Perspective examines how American consumers view and respond to portion control products and tactics across a wide array of eating, shopping and dining out occasions.

Click to learn more or purchase report...

08.16.2006 "The Challenges of Portion Control"

07.12.2006 "Understanding the Obesity Crisis"

04.26.2006 "The Rise of Single-Servie Packaging"

03.08.2006 "Satiety: 'Satisfying' the Hunger for a New Food Trend?"

03.10.2005 "The Balance Trap"

10.26.2004 "What If It's Not About the Food After All"

08.19.2004 "7 Myths of Obesity in America"

08.05.2004 "Snacking Our Way Through the Day: Food Culture in America"

06.17.2004 "Addressing the Problem of Obesity"

02.11.2004 "Don't Tell Me I'm Obese, I'm Just Big-Boned"

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Portion Control: Minimize Me, Please!

Size does matter, especially when it comes to eating. In this "era of obesity," portion sizes encountered in settings ranging from the dinner table to the local Ruby Tuesday have never come under more scrutiny. While most consumers recognize the power of moderation in the context of weight management, the larger issues of putting "good eating" practices to work and using sound judgment when it comes to determining what constitutes a "normal" serving size are still in debate. Despite the tension that exists between natural desires to give in to the temptations of large servings (whether encountered in restaurants, stores or in packaged foods), the notion among consumers that portions can be managed to avoid over-consumption is taking on increasing credence in a variety of eating occasions.

At Home, Work and Play, Portion Control is Challenging

In our 2004 report, Obesity in America: Understanding Weight Management from a Consumer Perspective, we found that consumers cite "inappropriate or uncontrollable portion sizing" as a primary hurdle to proper eating habits, as well as a more general cause of being overweight or obese. Not surprisingly, consumers then (as now) are also quick to suggest that the reining in of portion sizes is the cornerstone of any successful weight management strategy: In 2004, we found that just over half (56%) of those who have dieted to lose weight say they adjusted portion sizes as part of their most recent dieting strategy.

Today, in our newly released Pulse Report: Portion Control from a Consumer Perspective, we find that just over three-quarters (78%) of Americans have tried to control the amount of food and beverages they consume for weight management purposes. Interestingly, while in 2004 we identified tangible barriers to the practice of portion control (many of which are still prevalent today), in this current study we also find Americans reporting that a wide range of settings and eating occasions are challenging to the practice of managing portions: As examples, among diverse techniques used to manage food portions, consumers admit that limiting their eating to mealtimes (56% of respondents), avoiding restaurant portions that encourage them to overeat (52%), limiting eating to particular time of day (51%) and finding pre-portioned, single-serve multi-packs that don't cost too much (44%) are their top challenges when trying to manage portions. Providing insight on the diversity of occasions that influence overeating, another common challenge cited by 44% of respondents is "avoiding snacks at work that are put out to be shared" (Figure 1).

A Desire for Options to Mini-Mize, not Super-Size

Reflecting the previously described challenging occasions for managing portions, we find ample evidence in our recent research documenting the fact that consumers want more options to minimize, not super-size.

While consumers appear to recognize that portion control is an intensely personal issue (and thus don't necessarily look to outsiders to directly manage their servings), at the same time, the public is very focused on the notion that temptations from large servings in packaged goods, overly large restaurant meals, and "family" size supermarket packs are enticements they'd prefer to see balanced by smaller sized options. As evidence, 84% of consumers in our study agreed with the statement "restaurants should offer a variety of portion sizes for each entree" and in the case of supermarket bakeries (where cakes, pies, brownies and cookies abound), 82% of consumers agreed with the statement "supermarket bakeries should offer more items in single-serve sizes."

Drawing other parallels to our 2004 obesity research, in the minds of today's consumer the most trying times for managing portions and moderating appetite are encountered when dining out. This is primarily true because while increasingly popular (and therefore almost commonplace) the celebratory nature of eating away from home typically results in a suspension of normal mealtime habits. The suspension of normal eating habits then collides with over-generous restaurant portions resulting in over consumption.

Interviews conducted with consumers for Portion Control from a Consumer Perspective found them describing specific techniques used to cope with large portions encountered when eating out in a variety of restaurant types (ranging from fast food to casual dining): These moderation techniques focus on ordering full portions and splitting between two adults, eating a partial serving (and taking the rest home), or trying to order reduced size portions such as those intended for children or seniors. Many consumers voice the feeling that while a minority of restaurant chains are "helping" them with over generous portions (e.g., by providing half-plate sizes, facilitating leftovers, etc.), many still wish they had more choices and menu options for smaller restaurant meals. These emotions are strongest among women, who, as highlighted in our report, tend to place greater general emphasis in their attitudes toward the world of portion control than men. These gender-based differences hold true specifically with regard to attitudes toward restaurants and portion sizes: For example, women agree more strongly than men with the statement "Restaurants should offer a variety of portion sizes for each entree" (90% of women agree compared to 78% of men). Women also agree more strongly than men that restaurant portions are often big enough for two persons (85% vs. 67%) and that fast food portions are larger than most restaurant servings (57% vs. 46%).

Single-Serve Me Too, Please

In the area of packaged goods, single-serve products are certainly here to stay, with consumers leaning more toward "single-serve" than "100-calorie" designations: When asked to differentiate between the now common "single-serve" or "100-calorie" designation on packaging as to which type might "help their children eat less," 25% of consumers say both single-serve and 100-calorie packs assist them. Yet, at the same time, 55% of respondents chose single-serve packs alone over 20% choosing 100-calorie packaging as products that help children moderate portions (Figure 2), revealing that several factors may be contributing to preferences for single serve products:

• As opposed to 100-calorie designated products (which some consumers believe "taste funny" and even have a dietary stigma), the "single serve" term may have higher acknowledgement because the designation is older and more familiar, existing in some categories for years (e.g., yogurt, cereal, beverages).

While large numbers of consumers embrace the recent influx of single-serve and 100-calorie products, our research indicates that higher-quality, lower-priced indulgence as well as healthful offerings will meet the needs of a number of consumers standing on the sidelines of the single-serve/100-calorie pack invasion: 58% of consumers not buying single-serve or calorie-count products say that such products tend to be too expensive, while 33% don't buy them because "they're not available for the products I'm most interested in."

In keeping with the overall consumer interest in higher-quality foods, we find that for many sidelined consumers, single-serve and 100-calorie pack products are at odds with their understandings of "healthy" eating. Specifically, home-cooked or freshly prepared foods appear healthier than prepackaged foods by tapping into important dimensions such as balance, authenticity and freshness. As a result, we find that for health-minded shoppers, the benefits of convenient, effective portion control products are outweighed by negative health perceptions. Such consumers are more likely to currently make single-serve products themselves from fruits, vegetables, nuts, and other fresh and prepared foods.

Take Away (with Smaller Options, Thanks)

As we said in the recent HartBeat, The Rise of Single-Serve Packaging: "There was a time not long ago when 'value' in packaged foods meant larger bags, larger containers, larger trays, larger bottles and the infamously larger cups found at McDonald's, Dunkin' Donuts and 7-Eleven. Bigger has always just seemed better in this land of rising opportunity."

Today, we find that a sea change is taking place among consumers barraged by media reports on obesity and slowly taught by a variety of influences that "all you can eat" is not necessarily a winning practice when confronted with the menace of ever-expanding waistlines. While consumers seem resigned to the idea that portion control is a personal battle of will, they are also mindful that the temptation to over indulge (at home, at work, when snacking, when dining out) is especially great when the land of opportunity offers just too much of a tasty thing. Those manufacturers, restaurateurs and retailers who work with consumers by offering options to minimize will increasingly be viewed as partners in indulgence as well as health.