Household Food and Beverages Purchases by Retailer Type in Mexico and Socio‐economic Disparities
Authors: Pedraza Lilia S , Salgado‐Hernandez Juan Carlos , Tallie Lindsey Smith , Popkin Barry M 
Published: November 2023

Background

Evidence in the US has shown that where people shop for food is linked to the healthfulness of household food purchases. In Mexico however, there has been no research examining the link between the retailers where people shop and what they buy, nor whether this differs by socioeconomic status (SES). Moreover, while the sugary beverage and junk food taxes have decreased purchases of taxed products, it is unknown whether these taxes also shifted where people shop.

Objective

To describe the proportion of the total volume and of key taxed and untaxed packaged foods and beverages purchases in Mexico by type of retailer and SES.

Methods

This study used a repeated cross‐sectional analysis of household packaged food and beverage purchases from the Nielsen Mexico Consumer Panel Survey from 2012 to 2015 (N=22,738 household‐year). Changes over time in the volume of food and beverage purchases by retailer type (i.e. supermarkets, traditional retailers, wholesalers, home‐delivery and others) and SES were examined with T‐tests.

Results

Overall, from 2012 to 2015, total food purchases in supermarkets increased from 49% to 52% but decreased from 39% to 37% in traditional retailers (i.e. street markets, peddlers and independent convenience stores). For the same time period, total beverage purchases remained at a constant 8% in supermarkets, decreased from 32% to 31 % in traditional retailers and increased from 42% to 44% via home‐delivery. However, SES results varied greatly. From 2012–2015, the low SES purchases of taxed and untaxed foods in supermarkets increased from 27% to 39% and from 35% to 42%, respectively, and decreased from 66% to 57% and from 56% to 51% in traditional retailers. Although total beverage purchases by the low SES in traditional retailers decreased from 37% to 34% across the study period, 90% of taxed beverages were consistently purchased at traditional retailers across time. During same time period, high SES purchases of taxed foods in supermarkets decreased from 62% to 61%, increased in traditional retailers from 19% to 21%, and increased in wholesalers from 12% to 14%, while untaxed foods purchases increased in supermarkets from 61% to 62% and in traditional retailers from 21% to 23%. In the high SES, taxed beverage purchases decreased in supermarkets from 30% to 25% but increased in traditional retailers from 60% to 68%; while untaxed beverage purchases increased in supermarkets from 10% to 12%, by home‐delivery from 50% to 52% and decreased in traditional retailers from 18% to 16%.

Conclusions

Although traditional retailing still plays an important role in food and beverage purchasing in Mexico, the low and middle SES are shifting their purchasing patterns towards the supermarkets. Conversely, the high SES showed slight increases in food but not beverages purchases in traditional retailers. Overall, taxed foods are predominantly purchased in supermarkets while taxed beverages are mainly bought at traditional retailers.

Support or Funding Information

This support comes primarily from the Bloomberg Philanthropies (grants to UNC and CINyS INSP), with support from the NIH R01DK108148, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Grant 71698), and the Carolina Population Center and its NIH Center grant (P2C HD0550924).