Demand for grocery store lunches is on the rise — and could provide some much-needed leverage for traditional grocers.
Between 2024 and 2025, grocery stores claimed an increasing share of short, midday store visits over quick-service restaurants as consumers turned to their local food retailers for quick, convenient lunch options, Placer.ai reported. These short visits are usually less than 10 minutes and take place between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
This indicates that shoppers are increasingly looking at their local supermarket as an on-the-go lunch destination.
This trend has proven especially beneficial for traditional grocers, which have continued to lose wallet share to premium specialty grocers and discounters. While traditional, value and fresh format grocers all saw year-over-year growth in relative share of visits as a convenient lunch destination, traditional grocers recorded the largest increase, from 15.9% to 16.6%
“These metrics underscore the strong demand for on-the-go meal options and single-serving, shelf-stable products that both grocery stores and CPG companies can provide,” Placer.ai wrote.
This past fall, FMI — The Food Industry Association also reported that grocery shoppers are becoming increasingly likely to turn to deli-prepared foods as a replacement for restaurant meals, noting the percentage of consumers who feel that way more than doubled between 2017 and 2025.
