Except At Dinner, A Majority Of Americans Eat Alone

The NPD Group’s consumer food and foodservice research turns up some very interesting insights. The research group said in a release last week that 56% of all food occasions, both at and away from home, are consumed alone. Only at dinner are we more likely to dine with family or friends.

NPD attributes the solo-dining trend in part to an increase in one-person households which now include 27% of all U.S. households according to data from the U.S Census Bureau. But American’s mobile behavior patterns are also a factor. More than 60% of breakfast occasions are alone, as people speed off to work and school. Solo lunch occasions are also well above 50% and snacking occasion are consumed alone more than 70% of the time, NPD data shows.

“The number of solo eating and beverage occasions have wide-ranging implications for food and beverage marketers in terms of new products, packaging and positioning,” said Darren Seifer, NPD food and beverage industry analyst.

Information on NPD Group research products can be found at npd.com.  “””