Porntep Siriwanarangsun, Attapon Cheepsattayakorn and Ruangrong Cheepsattayakorn

The consumers’ food demand varies depending on income level of consumers, consumption, the price of foodstuffs, sociodemographic situation, time constraints, and shopping preferences, in addition to spending money on food in per visit changed and number of visits to food store. Interruption of the daily-routine life by COVID-19 pandemic resulted in boredom with high consumption of carbohydrate, fat, and protein, in addition to quarantine-caused stress that pushed the people to sugary food consumption for feeling positive. Due to ability of carbohydrate-rich foods to encourage serotonin production, they can be used as self-medicating components. These unhealthy eating habits may lead to obesity-associated-COVID-19 serious complications and chronic inflammation. An unusual demand shift from food service to retail due to the closure of restaurants and limited service eating places that affected the eating or purchasing habits. Using food service and purchasing food from supermarkets had the same ratio as 50% before the COVID-19 outbreak, nevertheless, it is almost 100% for supermarkets. During the COVID-19 lockdown, consumers experienced decreased availability of certain types of foods. The spending money on food was raised per visit, whereas the number of visits to food store was decreased.

In conclusion, movement restrictions both national and international contributed to challenges, including consumers’ changes in demand. These restrictions caused consumers prepared cooking at their home, in addition to preventing them from getting COVID-19 infection at the stores, restaurants, markets, and supermarket.

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