by webSaver
September 8, 2025
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There are few things that Canadians love as much as our hot, short, sunny summers. And right at the top of that list is a true Canadian classic, the summer BBQ. With warm weather lasting only a few precious months, firing up the grill is a tradition we savour, bringing family and friends together around good food and great company.
We know Canadian consumers are experiencing financial difficulties and although having mostly abated food inflation remains high compared to other categories. To better understand the impact that value considerations and opportunities to save have on BBQ food purchases and menu planning we conducted a brief survey.
As owners and operators of webSaver.ca, the leading Online Coupons website in Canada, our membership comprises one of the largest grocery shopping communities in Canada. Surveying our members we can uncover valuable insights on a variety of topics.
View some recent market research insights from webSaver here.
The survey results paint a clear picture. Canadians love their BBQs, but value plays a major role in how they shop for food products. From main dishes to sides, price, promotions and coupons strongly influence choices, and many shoppers are open to trying new or lesser-known Brands if the deal is right. The findings highlight a mix of tradition and practicality strongly impacted by financial considerations.
Some highlights about Canadian consumer attitudes and behaviours towards Summer BBQ menu planning and food purchases:
- Over half (53.67%) of consumers spend less than $50 on ingredients and supplies for a summer BBQ, underscoring the need for marketers to position value and affordability front and center.
- Beef remains king with 30.44% of BBQs featuring hamburgers or steaks, but chicken/poultry (22.61%), pork (14.97%), and fish/seafood (7.71%) highlight sizable opportunities to target diverse protein preferences.
- Prepared salads (24.78%), veggie trays (24.24%), and chips/dips (22.70%) top the list for BBQ sides, so product promotion and placement should focus on these easy, shareable accompaniments.
- A remarkable 82.25% rate sales, coupons, and cashback offers as ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ important in BBQ planning and shopping, proving that deal-driven and value messaging is critical for campaign effectiveness. This is in addition to running competitive coupon and cashback offer campaigns.
- A significant 86.58% would try a lesser-known BBQ brand for a strong offer, showing marketers can win trial and disrupt loyalty through compelling promotions.
- Nearly 90.44% (combining ‘Yes, absolutely’ and ‘Maybe, if the value was worth it’) would redeem a gated coupon for a BBQ item, confirming the power of interactive discounts to drive shopper participation.
Summer BBQ products Survey Results:
(Aggregate All Canada Data below – Results can also be reported by Location, Age, Gender and Language to discern group differences)
1. How much do you typically spend on ingredients and supplies for a summer BBQ? (Please select one)
2. What type of main dish do you most often prepare or serve at a summer BBQ? (Please select all that apply)
3. Which side dishes do you typically buy or prepare for BBQs? (Please select all that apply)
4. How important are sales, coupons or cashback offers when planning your BBQ shopping list? (Please select one)
5. If a lesser-known BBQ brand of BBQ products offered better promotions, would you try it? (Please select one)
6. If a BBQ item had a gated coupon (A coupon available only after answering a short quiz or sharing an email), would you redeem for it? (Please select one)
Savvy CPG Brand Managers know the importance of understanding their consumers and what drives them to buy specific Brands and products. Gathering consumer feedback is a simple method to allow consumers to express their opinions and preferences.
webSaver Consumer Insights provides CPG Brands with deep granular data into individual grocery shopping reporting categories.
We can also provide results by: Location (Province, City, Region), Gender, Age and Language, in addition to deep transactional data on dozens of grocery consumption categories.
Whatever your market intelligence challenge we can help you get the data you need to make better marketing decisions.
Contact webSaver Consumer Insights to find out more.
With over 10 years leading the Canadian online coupons marketplace and 150 Million coupon issued we know coupons. We’ve worked with 90% of Canada’s leading consumer packaged goods brands providing them with the online coupons and cashback offer solutions that generate real value for their business. Whether your strategic objective is customer acquisition, customer lift (Increased transaction size and frequency) or customer retention webSaver can help.
