As was the case in 2019, retail current value sales of baked goods will be flat during 2020. However, this does not imply that COVID-19 has not had any impact on demand – volume sales exhibited a small, but significant, decline. During the early stages of the pandemic, there was significant panic buying, as consumers feared a shortage of bread. Moreover, with restaurants closed for an extended period, consumers ate more bread and pastries at home. However, these drivers of growth in retail…

As a result of the COVID-19 lockdown, demand for packaged leavened and flat breads in Costa Rica in 2020 has increased as more consumers spend time at home. This is a result of their longer shelf life and convenient packaging, as well as their more affordable unit prices and versatile uses. However, demand for packaged cakes and pastries declined in 2020, largely due to the closure of schools, where previously single portion servings were regularly offered to the children. During the…

Retail sales of baked goods are set to see a slight decline in growth in 2020 in volume. The direct cause of this is the Colombian government’s response to the COVID-19 virus. On 17 March, President Iván Duque declared a state of emergency, followed by the announcement of 19-day nationwide quarantine, starting on 24 March. The country has been under varying degrees of lockdown ever since, with consumers working from home where possible, the closure of non-essential retail and the closure of…

While packaged food retail sales have generally been bolstered in 2020 by an increase in at-home food consumption as a result of COVID-19, baked goods has been negatively affected by disruptions to production and distribution. Both packaged and unpackaged baked goods have suffered, though the unpackaged segment has been hit hardest due to consumers’ limited access to retail outlets, increased concerns about food hygiene during the pandemic, and the fact that the shorter shelf life of such…

Baked good is expected to be largely unaffected by COVID-19, with retail volume and current value growth consistent with growth rates over the review period. Bread is an important staple of the Cameroonian diet, and accounts for most of value sales of baked goods, with only a couple of percent of value sales spent on pastries and cakes. There was a slight change in consumer behaviour in that more consumers bought packaged baked goods due to hygiene concerns in relation to COVID-19. However,…

Current value sales of baked goods are anticipated to grow significantly in response to the pandemic in 2020 overall. The main reason for this will be due to the increased consumption of baked goods over lockdown. With many of the key product areas such as leavened bread often consumed at breakfast, demand has risen as consumers have been spending more time on the preparation and consumption of breakfast. Prior to the pandemic, breakfast was often a rushed meal, however during lockdown…

Baked goods is anticipated to see a lower retail current value and volume growth rate in 2020 compared to the previous year. With home seclusion, Azerbaijani consumers have been baking bread, cakes and pastries at home more than in any other year, leading to lower demand for packaged baked goods through retail than usual.

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IHG`s focus on mid-market hotels, such as Holiday Inn has stood it well in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic where this segment has been more resilient. The group is currently adding more brands more mid-market brands with Avid and Atwell Suites. IHGs presence is currently focused on the US but its expansion is pivoting towards the Asia Pacific. Speculation about a merger with Accor re-surfaced in 2020, such a merger would increase IHGs presence in Western Europe.

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Overall consumer expenditure in Romania has been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak and consequent widespread decline in demand for services, tourism and foodservice throughout the country. Consumer payments were already shifting away from cash before the pandemic, in line with ongoing technological development and rising demand for convenience. As a result of hygiene-related concerns, along with recommendations from leading health authorities and retailers during the peak of the…

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated migration towards non-cash payments in Romania. Indeed, contactless debit card payments are increasingly becoming the norm throughout the country. Debit card usage has therefore been boosted by the pandemic, in line with rising health concerns among consumers and growing focus on hygiene among retailers.

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With cash usage in decline throughout Romania, credit cards continue to gain a growing share of consumer payments. In addition, the massive rise in e-commerce following the COVID-19 outbreak has also helped to support this trend. Although consumer spending was negatively impacted by the pandemic and resulting restrictions, the portion of payments accounted for by credit cards has increased as consumers continue to move away from cash. Online shopping and delivery are already well-developed…

In 2020, the COVID-19 outbreak led to a sudden slowdown in consumer lending in Romania, with the pandemic significantly reducing appetite among consumers to take on debt. Declining incomes and rising uncertainty over economic prospects also negatively impacted demand for loans. As a result of the extended lockdown, economic uncertainty, alarming and contradicting messages in the media, and a massive rise in unemployment, consumer credit gross lending declined. However, while non-card lending…

Charge cards remains a marginal category in financial cards, consisting almost solely of fuel cards. Commercial cards account for the vast majority of transactions, with use of personal cards remaining negligible. Unlike debit and credit cards, in Romania charge cards has not benefited from the shift away from cash among consumers fuelled by COVID-19. The pandemic brought the majority of business travel to a halt in Romania, both nationally and internationally, as government travel…

Hot cereals has seen sales negatively impacted by interruptions to distribution channels as a result of measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 and the fact that the outbreak affected the celebration of the Chinese New Year when hot cereals are traditionally often chosen as a gift. The flakes and children’s breakfast cereals categories have also been adversely affected by channel interruption during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, muesli and granola, which has a stronger presence in the…

Wound care is a highly seasonal category in Germany, with sales greatly depending on the weather and time spent outside. Therefore, the emergence of COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdown had a marginally negative impact on demand for wound care in 2020. School and gym closures, and social distancing, which also resulted in fewer team sports as well as home seclusion, strongly featured in Germany up to the beginning of the summer. The pandemic resulted in fewer activities outside which…

The outbreak of COVID-19, leading to social distancing and home seclusion, translated to lower demand for products that were not deemed essential and could be substituted, accompanied by general attitudes towards healthy nutrition or diet. Weight management and wellbeing for instance, continued to generally decline in current value terms, as a result in waning demand for the largest and most impactful category of meal replacement, which was related to increased consumption of home-cooked…

Pre-pandemic, sports nutrition had continued to experience increasing demand in Germany. A good market environment and favourable consumer behaviour had led to these products becoming increasingly accepted as mainstream beyond sport enthusiasts had fuelled further growth. Part of the latter trend has been supported by an expanding base, with some products within the largest value category of sports protein products, including sports protein RTD and protein/energy bars, being positioned as…

Contact bans, movement restrictions, school closures, reduced social interaction and financial woes as a result of the pandemic have all resulted in heightened stress levels, having a negative impact on the physical and mental health of many German consumers in 2020. As consumers sought ways to alleviate stress and address resulting sleep problems, demand for products targeted to resolve these issues therefore rose in 2020, including sleep aids. There is industry consensus that 2020’s…

Whilst continuing to decline, smoking prevalence amongst German adults remains fairly high. The outbreak of COVID-19 and health concerns related to tobacco consumption did not appear to have a significant impact on demand for NRT smoking cessation aids or to have been given much consideration by the smoking population in Germany as a reason to quit smoking, despite the amplified lung problems that COVID-19 may cause. In fact, due to increased stress and anxiety levels related to the unstable…

Certain herbal/traditional products in Germany were impacted by new consumption patterns linked to the pandemic to some degree in 2020. The growing level of anxiety resulted in greater demand for herbal/traditional sleep aids, while sales of herbal/traditional cough, cold and allergy (hay fever) remedies benefited from greater enthusiasm amongst consumers to treat flu-like symptoms such as coughs and sore throats, particularly when these are mild cases, with natural remedies, as they are…