Will old shopping habits die hard?

Against the background of prevailing turmoil in the international financial world, the most frequently asked question is how will it affect the individual?

Beyond the world of mortgages, how to pay escalating fuel bills and the million-dollar question as to whether to take a holiday and run the risk of getting stuck on the other side of the planet, there is, of course, the more mundane but equally relevant impact on lifestyle - and that means shopping habits.

In such times, food is usually the last to feel the pinch, and there was a time when I would have said that, in general terms, the fresh produce industry was relatively secure.

But the last decade or so has also created a change in the habits of a generation. Eating out, for example - embracing five-star and ethnic restaurants to bistros and snack bars - is now a way of life. For many wholesale markets, these outlets are their major customers - underlining the value that the Fresh Produce Consortium has always placed on this sector.

If we are moving from boom to near bust, and family and friends can no longer afford regular trips to the high street, does it follow that their purchases will translate to the kitchen or dining table?

Perhaps not. Sociologists have been saying for some time now that Sunday lunch has become something of an event - reflecting the fact that fewer meals are prepared at home because snacking has become the order of the day.

Perhaps the numerous cookery programmes that assail every TV channel, together with the millions of recipes being pumped out, will correct this balance. Maybe consumers will suddenly change their purchasing habits by rejecting what are commonly referred to as ‘added-value products’ - simply because they perceive it as another way of saving money.

This goes beyond simply re-acquiring a taste for meat and two veg, although the seeds of advertising have already been sown, with many multiples heavily advertising that their stores are now filled with a cornucopia of cheap products creating total meals.

If this strategy is working, it might inevitably place a question mark over the future expansion of organics. Apart from any environmental issues, growers will be looking for higher yields to reduce costs in a horticultural industry that is already being squeezed.

Then there is the impact of products that have come to the market on the wave of ethical approval - exemplified by the highly successful Fairtrade label, which is represented in no small part by fresh produce. Many of these crops, grown by producers in developing countries, are priced on the principle that the customer is prepared to pay a premium in order to support these growers. Getting consumers to pay this might become harder in the future. Fairtrade products also, on the whole, carry the additional burden of being shipped long distances. So if carbon footprinting continues to be an issue, Fairtrade lines could be dealt a double blow.

At this point, time alone will tell, but if shopping habits change, it may come quicker than any of us had anticipated.