We really are what we eat, according to new research from Horsham, PA-based SAI Marketing Inc., which described how food has become a class marker separating consumers into two distinct groups: Food Elitists and Food Realists.

Bill Melnick, director of strategic planning for leading shopper communications agency SAI Marketing, Inc., reported that as the fragmentation of the mass market continues unabated, food has become the latest front as Americans continue to find ways to define themselves as separate and unique from their fellow citizens. “The various dimensions of social class and culture have had a profound influence on food usage and consumption preferences in society,” he said.
“For food marketers across all categories, understanding and navigating the fluid dynamics of these ‘food wars’ is imperative as the political and cultural forces that underlie this trend can have a strong bottom line impact.”

In explaining the urgency of speaking to shoppers through the lens of their food context, Mr. Melnick pointed to a food culture divided into two Americas. The high-status class – the Food Elite group – tends to value and eat more exotic foods created by highly skilled artisans in small quantities from around the world. The more mainstream consumer – the Food Realist – tends to gravitate toward traditional hearty meals, heavy in starch and fat, and generous in portion size.  These eating behaviors define the divide that exists in the consumer marketplace, and have a big impact on marketers as they seek to position brands to the right consumer with the right message.

SAI’s findings are published in the report, “A Country Divided by Palate and Passion: How America Eats,” which delves into the attributes that define where a brand sits in an ever changing American food culture. The report is available for free upon registering at www.saimarketing.com.