In recent times, we only talked about bulk selling conquering new territories day after day. Food, of course, but also beauty and cosmetics, home care, oil, wine… Supermarkets dedicated shelves to bulk goods, brands were created (Day by Day), the glass container market exploded. Packaging disappeared, new behaviors became habits. Overall, a great benefit to the planet. Everyone wanted to enjoy this new possibility to buy and sell. Tomorrow’s world was already visible.

Today, we learn that after years of 40% growth, the bulk market became sluggish in 2021 and its turnover just stabilized. Explanations abound. First of all, the (inevitable) health crisis. In the stores, shoppers immediately give a reproachful look to anyone who touches slightly too long the fruits and the vegetables they wish to buy. Even if bulk goods are presented as to avoid the need to be touched, we must admit that physical contact is frequent. And what about the hygiene of dispensers and their plastic materials? 

Another possible explanation is that the crisis has reduced the number of stores visited. A difficult moment for those which cover only a part of the daily needs and require to adopt new habits. The decrease of bulk selling can also be correlated to the reflux of home-made food, amplified by the confinement measures. Many believed it had become a reality… Employees have found their way back to the office and are now busy going to the pharmacy. There isn’t much time left to bake bread and cakes anymore. Hello, home-delivered meals.

What can we learn from this decline in bulk selling? That a trend only exists if it generates a market. That we hasten to call a trend what is often only an (epi)-phenomenon. And that a trend, in order to become a reality and not just a media topic, can only become established if it simplifies (eases, improves) consumers’ daily lives. Asking them to change their behavior is an ambitious goal. Because if activism is apparently good, it has a weak resistance to constraint.