National Pecan Shellers Association
Overview
Nearly 8% of the US adult population, over 17 million people, has “used” Pecans for snacking in
the last 6 months; over 10 million have used in the last 30 days. The total nut Category (i.e., used
all nuts/mixed nuts for snacking) has nearly 135 million users representing 60% of the US adult
population.
Demographics
Pecan users skew female and older. Two-thirds of users are women compared to only 54% of the
Category and 52% of adults. While the nut Category as a whole skews only a bit older than the
US average, Pecan users are likely to be significantly older. The median age of the Pecan user is
51.5 (more regular Pecan users are 52.8), 13% older than the average adult and 8% older than the
nut Category. 63% of Pecan users are over 45.
Female
Median Age
US
Average
52%
45.4
Pecan
Users
66%
51.5
Category
Users
54%
47.9
Pecan users are likely to be married (61%) however widowed/divorced/separated shows a more
likely than average index (115).
Nut users are more educated and have higher incomes than the US average, although they are not
as likely to be working. Forty-three percent of Pecan users have received a 4-year or post
graduate degree (119 index). HHI for the Category is slightly above the Pecan user which is 6%
above US. While a slim majority works either full or part time (56%), Pecan users actually
under index against working (91). Among those that do work, they are more likely to do so from
home than from an office. Category users and Pecan users are likely to own their home.
Median HHI
Index to US
US
Average
$59,530
Pecan
Users
$63,200
106
Category
Users
$64,851
109
Category users are evenly divided across the various regions of the country; however Pecan users
are concentrated in the South. 44% of users live in the South compared to only 37% of the US
and 36% of the Category. Users are evenly split across county size.
The majority of both Pecan users and Category users are white. Against African Americans,
Pecan users overindex and Category users slightly underindex. Both Pecan users and the
Category underindex for use among Hispanics.
US
Caucasian
Composition
Caucasian
Index
African
American
Composition
African
American
Index
Hispanic
Composition
Hispanic
Index
76.1%
Pecan
Users
77.6%
Category
Users
78.9%
100
101
103
11.6%
13.6%
10.6%
100
117
92
13.5
9.7%
11.6%
100
72
86
Psychographics
The Pecan user is likely moving into a new life stage and is experiencing everything that goes
with it. In the near future she expects to become a grandparent, have a child start or graduate
from college or get married, remodel her home or retire.
The Pecan user spends her time on both traditional/domestic activities and more intellectual
endeavors. She reads, gardens and does housework. She enjoys baking and cooking for fun,
entertaining friends at home and playing board games. She likes to dance, decorate and do
photography.
She is active and involved. She likes to dine out, attend art galleries, musical performances and
live theater. She is a member of AARP, religious organizations, civic clubs, country clubs,
charitable groups and book clubs.
Both Pecan users and Category users are likely to have a regular exercise program. Pecan users
participate in aerobics, bicycling, Pilates, swimming, tennis, walking and Yoga. Category users
are more likely to jog, hike and play golf.
Pecan users are not interested in sports although Category users are. They attend
college/professional sporting events with greatest interests in baseball, NBA and college
basketball and football. Category users are also more likely to watch sports on television. Pecan
users are not interested in playing video or electronic games.
2
Buying Styles
Pecan users spend an average of $28.20 each week at the Grocery store – about equal to the
amount spent by the average US shopper and just slightly less than the Category user. The Pecan
user takes an average of 2.2 trips to the grocery store each week – more than 5 extra trips
annually over the Category user and US average.
US
Amount Spent at
Grocery Store (weekly)
Grocery Trips
(Weekly)
$28.00
Pecan
Users
$28.20
Category
Users
$28.60
2.1
2.2
2.1
In terms of purchase influencers, Pecan users are definitely not influenced by trends, celebrities
or friends/family approvals. They do however see themselves as trusted influencers of what
others buy. They do not typically make impulse purchases, they like to buy the brands they grew
up with, they prefer environmentally friendly products and they use coupons.
Neither Pecan nor Category users consider price the driving factor in product choice. However
both Pecan and Category users take advantage of savings through coupon use. In fact, 57% of the
Pecan target has used a coupon in the last 12 months (40% have used in the last 3 months). Pecan
consumers use slightly more coupons than both the Category and the average adult.
US
Mean # coupons used
in last 3 months
12.7
Pecan
Users
13.0
Category
Users
12.7
The number one stated reason for using coupons is to save as much money as possible. Over 8
MM people use coupons on food products, more than for any other products.
For both targets, FSIs are the most popular method of obtaining coupons – 39% of Pecan and
36% of Category users have clipped a coupon from an FSI followed by Mail and in/on pack.
Vehicle usage among the Category follows the same pattern.
Coupon Method
Mean # coupons used
in last 3 mos.
FSI
Mail
In/On-Pack
Magazine
At Register
US
12.7
Pecan
Users
13.0
Category
Users
12.7
32%
19%
17%
13%
12%
39%
24%
22%
18%
15%
36%
21%
19%
15%
13%
3
At Shelf
In-Store
Internet/Email
10%
9%
7%
13%
11%
9%
11%
10%
7%
General Attitudes
Pecan users are confident people who believe that they are experts in many areas, specifically
healthy lifestyle. Healthcare, environmentally friendly product, RX drugs, dieting, cooking,
snacks, new foods, grocery shopping, cleaning, vacation travel, restaurants, decorating,
gardening, news, politics and education are all areas friends and family ask them for advice on.
By contrast, they are not confident in their understanding of electronics and technology-related
topics.
Financially, Pecan users may be slightly more conservative. They save for the future and don’t
necessarily take risks investing.
Pecan users are politically active. Both conservatism and liberalism overindex. Thirty-six percent
of Pecan users consider themselves conservative (very conservative indexes at 141!) compared to
30% of the US. Eighteen percent of users report they are liberal compared to 16% of the US.
They vote, write or call politicians, attend rallies and public meetings, serve on committees and
work for a political party. The Category skews slightly conservative and are, to a lesser extent,
politically active.
Both Pecan and Category users do not overindex against use of technology. They use cell phones
to make and receive calls – not for entertainment or texting. They are not early technology
adopters.
4
Food and Health Attitudes
In general, both target users are likely to make a healthy lifestyle a central part of their lives.
However, the Pecan user is more active in her approach. She believes she has a great deal of
knowledge about leading a healthy lifestyle and is an influence to friends and family. She is
nutritionally savvy and checks ingredients and nutritional content before she buys – she keeps
her home free of junk food. The Pecan user is more likely to cook with organic and fresh
ingredients. She prefers cooking over picking up quick meals.
Agree somewhat or
completely
I try to eat healthy &
pay attention to
nutrition
I try to eat a healthy
breakfast everyday
I don’t allow junk food
in my home
People ask my advice
about food
I don’t pay much
attention to my fat
intake
I prefer cooking with
fresh food
I regularly eat organic
foods
US
100
Pecan
Users
108
Category
Users
104
100
113
105
100
111
100
100
120
102
100
89
93
100
110
104
100
116
103
The Pecan user takes care of her mind and body. She follows a regular exercise program and
skin-care regimen. She goes to the doctor for check-ups, takes prescription medication as
prescribed and relies on her doctor to recommend drug brands. She is not however opposed to
using alternative medicines (117 index) or Herbal supplements (109). The Category user indexes
at about 100 for alternatives and herbals. Both Pecan and Category users take antioxidant
vitamins however Pecan users are more likely to do so.
Vitamin and Dietary
Supplements
Total Users Last 7 days
(%)
Antioxidant Vitamins:
Users last 6 mos. (%)
Antioxidant Vitamins:
Users last 6 mos.
(Index)
Antioxidant Vitamins:
Users last 6 mos. (000)
U.S.
44.2%
Pecan
Users
57.8%
Category
Users
51.7%
2.6%
4.4%
3.5%
100
173
138
5,773
777
4,752
5
Both the Pecan and Category users try to eat healthy and pay attention to nutrition and diet.
While Category users index above average (116) for being vegetarian/vegan, Pecan users index
very high at 149. Fifty-five percent of Pecan users and 48% of Category users are presently
controlling their diet. More people use exercise to control their diet than any other method.
Diet Control Method
U.S.
Index
100
100
100
100
Books
Doctors Care
Diet organization/club
Exercise Program
Pecan
Users
182
173
143
134
Category
Users
131
114
120
119
Pecan users tend to buy food with health benefit labels such as: “fat free”, “low cholesterol”,
“low sodium”, “high fiber”, “high protein”, “low-carb”, “low fat”, “natural or organic”.
Media Consumption
Both the target and Category users are average consumers of most media. Their time spent with
or issues read are average as well. They spend the most time with Television (32.5 hours per
week), followed by Cable (20.5 hours). They spend almost 15 hours per week on the Internet.
Pecan users are stronger consumers of media than Category users. They consider Radio and
Magazines as good sources of learning. They also use Magazines as a way to relax and escape.
Medium
US
11.2
Pecan
Users
11.7
Category
Users
11.3
Magazines: # Issues read in a
month
Newspapers: # Papers read in
28 days
Radio: # half hour listened to in
a week
TV: # of half hours viewed in a
week
TV Prime: # of half hours
viewed in a week
TV Daytime: # of half hours
viewed in a week
Cable: # of half hours viewed in
a week
Internet: # Hours spent in an
average week
19.3
20.0
20.0
34.7
31.8
34.0
63.1
65.0
62.4
24.2
24.7
24.3
5.7
5.9
5.5
42.6
41.0
41.3
15.6
14.8
15.3
Source: 2010 Doublebase GfK MRI
Population (000) - Base: All
6
7