More affluent and more specialty-conscious consumers tend to visit the deli and bakery sections of the supermarket, according to research by the International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association.

IDDBA’s 2008 What’s In Store report found that while restaurants and delivery businesses still lead in prepared meal sales, supermarket delis have some powerful positives: respondents cited them as more convenient (71.9%), healthier (62%) and fresher (55.8%) than restaurants. Frequent specialty supermarket shoppers averaged 11.5 monthly visits and frequent club store shoppers, 11.8 monthly visits, both more than double the rate for consumers as a whole. Income also plays a part, as shown on the accompanying chart.