Did You Know 14% of U.S. Adults Qualify As Foodies?

Media Post has an article this morning discussing recent research by Packaged Facts that found that 31.2 million–or 14.4% of U.S. adults–qualify as foodies (like trying all kinds of food and willing to pay above average).

There is all sorts of information that was interesting in the article.  Here are a few of the findings:

The foodie culture is “an essentially American phenomenon” that has emerged in reaction to this country’s “uniquely malleable and marketer-driven” food culture, say the PF analysts. While other nations or regions have distinct cultures surrounding food and its consumption, the U.S. generally lacks such a culture, and foodies are on a mission to fill this void, they explain.

Their eagerness to experiment makes them receptive to F&B product launches, but their restlessness poses challenges to fostering enduring brand loyalty.

The most interesting pieces of this article was that the research found that while gourmet food was important to the Foodie, more important was that it was “new and preferably authentic“.

So, let me get this straight, Foodies like

• New/fresh
• Authentic
• Not being labeled
• Spending time on the Internet
• Trying new things

This sounds very applicable to other up-incoming segments don’t you think?

Read the full article here.