Dining at home trend favours healthy and premium beverages

Hain Celestial Group of Melville, N.Y. – a leader in natural and organic food and beverages (Celestial Seasonings, Yves Veggie Cuisine) – continues to enjoy strong sales despite the economic slowdown. Sales are driven, in part, by consumers who are increasingly dining at home and seeking premium quality healthy beverage and food options.

The company also reports strong demand from parents concerned about healthy eating for their infants, toddlers and kids, and believes that consumers are buying more specialty teas and coffees as alternatives to more expensive beverages.

These insights are borne out by The Nielsen Company’s latest retail sales data for Canada, which show strong growth in demand for shelf stable juices (up eight per cent to $502 million) but declining demand for shelf stable drinks (down seven per cent to $228 million). Sales of specialty teas rose five per cent to $97 million while those for non-specialty teas slipped one per cent to $85 million. Demand for whole bean coffee continued its double-digit growth of recent years, rising 13 per cent to $63 million for the 52 weeks ended Nov. 22, while sales of roast and ground and instant rose by just four per cent to $607 million.