How Consumers Are Combating Rising Grocery Costs
As grocery prices continue to climb in 2025, American consumers are shifting how they shop, cook and plan meals — turning to digital recipes, private-label goods and cheaper proteins to manage their food budgets, according to new research from contextual advertising platform Chicory.
Chicory's "Economic Sentiment Report," based on a national survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers, highlights the growing role of online recipe content in influencing purchasing behavior amid economic uncertainty and inflation pressures driven in part by tariffs.
Among the report’s key findings:
- More consumers are cooking at home: 46% of respondents reported they are preparing meals at home more often.
- Gen Z is more cost-sensitive: 34% of Gen Z shoppers have trimmed their grocery budgets, compared to 29% of non-Gen Z consumers.
- Online recipes drive low-cost meal planning: 72% of Gen Z respondents said they use recipes to help plan affordable meals.
- Recipes fuel discovery: 80% of all shoppers said recipes have introduced them to new products or ingredients.
- Protein searches spike, but shoppers opt for cheaper choices: Chicory saw a 450% increase in protein-based recipe searches from December to January. However, 77% of respondents said they are either buying less meat or switching to lower-cost alternatives such as tofu, beans or cheaper cuts of meat.
- Gen Z favor "fakeaways": 71% of Gen Z have tried to recreate their favorite takeout dishes at home.
- Private label gains traction: Nearly half of all consumers surveyed said they’ve traded down to store brands to cut costs.
“Consumers aren't giving up on good food, but they are getting smarter about how to afford it,” Yuni Baker-Saito, co-founder and CEO of Chicory, said in a media release. “We're seeing recipe content boom in popularity, and it may come as a surprise to some brands and retailers just how much they guide purchases and shopping habits.”
Baker-Saito added that the data suggests increased promotional activity could be on the horizon, as brands look to defend their position in consumers’ baskets and justify their value over lower-cost alternatives.
