Anything but hard discount: Storevorousness and the social stratification of grocery shopping venues in Italy (2014–2022)

Abstract

Quantitative research on the cultural stratification of food consumption has largely focused on what people eat rather than where they buy it. This study introduces the concept of “storevorousness” to examine the social stratification of grocery venues in Italy, analyzing nationally representative Household Budget Survey data from 2014 to 2022. Findings indicate that while supermarkets dominate everyday provisioning, traditional shops and street markets are eroding, and online or direct-from-producer channels remain marginal. Multivariate analyses reveal a strong wealth gradient: higher-expenditure households purchase significantly more items overall and distribute their shopping across a wider array of venues. Crucially, this storevorousness is highly selective. Affluent consumers exhibit an “anything but” pattern, deliberately avoiding hard discounts: they are less likely to enter them and buy fewer items when they do. Furthermore, while absolute gaps are largest in mainstream supermarkets and traditional stores, relative gaps peak in niche, symbolically charged venues like direct-from-producer and online. Together, these results suggest that classed distinctions in food consumption are enacted not only through what households buy, but through patterned engagement with specific kinds of retail space: being able to buy from anywhere, but not from everywhere.