Single Male Households Buying More Carbs, Less Cleaning Supplies

Shopper analysis firm Catalina, which has been tracking the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on buying behavior at grocery and drug stores dating back to mid-January, has found that Single Male Households are filling their shopping baskets with more carbohydrate-packed food than cleaning supplies.

Per Catalina’s Buyer Intelligence Database, sales of cleaning supplies overall continue to be quite strong for the 17-week period ending July 15, triggered by Covid-19 transmission concerns. This pattern does not hold true for Single Male Households, even as health experts continue to stress the importance of a clean home environment.

Since the pandemic began, Single Male Households are more likely to purchase easy-to-fix, carbohydrate-rich foods like Potato Mixes (up 326 percent during the same period a year ago), Instant Rice (up 306 percent), Pancake Mixes (up 182 percent) and Dried Pasta (up 104 percent).

“Our retail and CPG customers find such data and insights into various demographic segments to be incredibly beneficial as we work with them on hyper-personalizing their marketing efforts,” said Marta Cyhan, Catalina’s Chief Marketing Officer. “That is why we continue to track sales data across 78 major grocery and drug categories dating back to mid-January just before the pandemic really started to take root.”

Catalina’s COVID-19 Interactive Map is updated each Monday.