Families buying store brand more often Many people buying canned vegetables instead of fresh, eating fast food instead of at a dine-in restaurant

Portland Press Herald

A year ago, Angie Green would have filled her grocery cart with snacks, fresh fruit and vegetables, and a perhaps a nice steak.

Those days are gone.

Green is now unemployed, and struggling to find work. Her partner, John Young, a house painter, is sitting at

During a recent shopping trip, the South Portland couple bought canned vegetables, boxes of macaroni and cheese, chili, pasta and store-brand cereal. Green jotted down the price of every item.

"I never used to look at the prices before. I just bought what I liked," Green said. "Now I'm writing down prices, and I get the cheap stuff.

"Anything on sale is what we get," Young said. "It's been a real hard year."

The couple's only comfort is that they are not alone. The recession is changing the way many Americans eat.

Nationally, sales of pasta products in the United States rose 5 percent last year. Workers at the Hormel Foods plant in Minnesota are working overtime to keep up with the surging demand for Spam, a canned ham, pork and potato starch product used as a cheaper alternative for meat.

Sales of pancake mixes and instant potatoes are booming, according to data compiled by Information Resources, a market research firm. Kraft Foods announced this fall that sales of Kool-Aid, Jell-O, macaroni and cheese and Velveeta are up significantly.

In good times or bad, people eat the same amount of food, said Ephraim Leibtag, a senior economist with the economic research division of the United States Department of Agriculture. But anecdotal evidence suggests that many people are "trading down," buying canned vegetables, for example, instead of fresh, or eating at a fast-food outlet instead of a dine-in restaurant.

"Food remains near the top of what you have to have," he said. "It's a question of how to get enough food to fill you up each day."

Hannaford Bros., the Scarborough-based supermarket chain, is seeing increased demand for store-brand products, which generally cost less than brand-name items, said Michael Norton, a Hannaford spokesman. Also, the company has seen an increase in sales for many basic items used for preparing meals at home, such as ground beef and store-brand pastas and canned goods, he said.

Hannaford has seen declines in more discretionary items.

People seem increasingly motivated by weekly specials and making purchases using store coupons that contain recipes for inexpensive meals, he said.

"They are going into the store with a plan of how to make meals at home to save some money," he said.

Chet Knights, owner of Fresh Approach Meat Market in Portland, said his business is down, even though the number of customers walking through the door is unchanged. "They will be looking at a steak and end up buying chicken thighs," he said.

A year ago, the top-selling wines at John Naylor's three Rosemont markets in the Portland area cost between $10 and $15. Now, his top wines sell for between $6 and $10.

People are eating out less often, and when they do go out, they order cheaper items and skip extras, such as desert and alcohol, according to owners of local restaurants.

Diane Tomkins, a single mother of two teenagers in Cape Elizabeth, recently took her girls to a pancake restaurant as a reward for their school work. She's taken them there before, she said, but this time, she told her girls not to order any drinks.

"If they want soda, they can have it at home," she said. "I'm much more price-conscious then I use to be."

Brad Pollard, owner of Cole Farms in Gray, said customers who used to come three or four times a week now only come once a week. People who used to come once a week now come once a month. Customers are more likely to order low-cost "comfort food," such as chop suey and beans.

Pollard researched the restaurant's financial data during other recession periods, such as the 1970s. This is the worst period in the restaurant's 57-year-history, he said.

"I have never seen anything like this before," he said. "These are different times."

While the restaurant business is slumping, fast-food chains appear to be holding their own.

McDonald's reported Monday that same-store sales in 2008 increased 4 percent over the previous year. The company has been promoting its dollar menu to attract diners looking for an inexpensive meal during the recession. Sales at other fast-food restaurants, including Burger King and Taco Bell, also are up.

Ron Lydick, who owns seven McDonald's restaurants in Maine, said his restaurants are performing well, given the current economic climate.

Cynthia Simonds, a cookbook writer who lives in Newcastle, said more people seem interested in taking one of her cooking classes. "When times are tough, they are making an effort," she said.

Amy Preston, who is 49 and lives in Alna, said she's cooking more at home, particularly soups. She's raising chickens now for eggs and growing her own blueberries, pears and apples. She said she's bartering the blueberries for goat milk and learning how to make cheese.

She and a friend recently bought the meat from half a cow from a local farm, and she put her half in a freezer. The cost of the meat works out to $3.66 a pound, including the prime rib and T-bone steaks, she said.

"I think it's saving money in the long run, and I think it's healthier," she said.