In food and beverage research, a “usage occasion” refers to the specific context in which someone chooses to consume a product. This includes when they use it (such as morning vs. evening), why they use it (such as needing energy vs. comforting themselves), and where or with whom they use it (such as alone vs. at a party).

Understanding food usage occasions with market research helps brands move beyond basic questions like “Who is my customer?” and begin asking “When, why, and how does my product solve something in the customer’s life?” These details paint a much clearer picture of consumer behavior and offer valuable inputs for product innovation, marketing, and brand strategy.

Common elements of food and beverage usage occasions include:

• Time of day: Breakfast, late-night snacking, afternoon slump
• Consumer mood: Stressed, celebratory, tired, bored
• Social setting: Alone, with family, during work meetings, at events
• Functional need: Quick nutrition, energy boost, indulgence, hydration

Why do usage occasions matter in food marketing? Because they allow you to position your product not only based on who the consumer is, but what role it plays in their life. A protein shake used after a workout has a different value than one consumed during a busy morning commute. These differences directly influence positioning and how your brand communicates with its audience.

Let’s say a fictional yogurt brand discovers that their product isn't just being eaten for breakfast, but also used by busy parents to provide a healthy snack in the evening. That opens the door for new flavor varieties, packaging formats, and messaging that resonates with that evening usage occasion – a key opportunity that standard demographic segmentation could easily miss.

By identifying these moments, brands can:

• Refine messaging to match consumer context
• Design packaging that fits the use case (portable, resealable, etc.)
• Innovate based on unmet needs in specific moments (e.g., meals vs. snacks)
• Diversify their portfolio to meet multiple usage occasions

Ultimately, food and beverage companies that embrace occasion-based thinking can better serve their customers while finding new avenues for growth. And that’s where the Jobs to Be Done framework comes in – to uncover those deeper insights.

The Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework is a method within consumer insights that focuses on understanding the underlying goals people are trying to achieve when they choose a product. In the world of market research, it's a powerful tool for identifying customer needs in the food category that go beyond surface-level preferences.

Rather than asking, “What do people want to eat or drink?” JTBD asks, “What are people trying to accomplish in that moment, and how can our product help them get there?” This shift in perspective leads to richer, more actionable insights.

How does JTBD work in food and beverage research?

Consumers 'hire' a product to do a job in their daily life. That job could be helping them stay alert during a long commute, wind down after a tough day, or save time preparing dinner for the kids. By anchoring research in the outcome people are seeking, JTBD helps brands draw a clearer line between consumer behavior and product value.

Here’s how Jobs to Be Done helps food brands identify hidden patterns:

• It reframes product use from 'purchase' to 'purpose' – shifting the focus from who buys to why they buy.
• It reveals unmet needs within specific occasions – such as an energy drink not satisfying a user's desire for a more “natural” boost at 3PM.
• It uncovers competitive sets – your real competitor might not be another snack, but a cup of coffee or even a short walk.

A fictional example: A sparkling water brand uses JTBD interviews and learns that consumers often drink their product in the evening not for hydration, but as a healthy substitute for wine during moments of relaxation. This usage occasion – relaxing with a “feel-good” drink – wasn’t the brand's original intention, but it opens up new messaging and product strategies centered on calm, not refreshment.

Using JTBD for brand growth helps marketers and product developers move past assumptions. Instead of assuming that people choose your product for taste alone, you begin to see it as a tool they turn to for convenience, control, energy, comfort, or connection – depending on the moment.

JTBD sheds light on how people actually live, and how different contexts shape their needs. This kind of depth is what sets strong market research frameworks apart, especially for brands developing new offerings or repositioning existing ones.

Many of SIVO’s food and beverage clients apply Jobs to Be Done when they’re trying to:

• Pinpoint usage patterns across different shopper segments
• Guide R&D teams toward consumer-first product concepts
• Tailor go-to-market strategies across multiple dayparts or use cases

By uncovering the driving forces behind food and beverage choices – such as consumer mood and product choice or time of day usage insights – JTBD enables more precise, empathetic, and effective brand strategies. And that’s essential for standing out in today’s crowded marketplace.

People reach for different food and beverage products depending not just on hunger or taste – but on time of day, activity, emotional state, and social setting. These are known as usage occasions, and the Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework helps brands uncover what specific “job” a product is really being hired to do in that moment.

Let’s break it down using a few fictional, illustrative examples that show how mood, time, and setting shape consumer behavior in the food and beverage space:

Time of Day: Morning On-the-Go

A consumer dashing out the door at 7AM might grab a protein bar—not for its flavor, but because their “job” is to fuel up quickly without stopping. The usage occasion here is tied to time-of-day behavior and convenience needs, not just personal taste preference.

Mood: Comfort After a Long Day

When someone picks up a pint of ice cream after a stressful day, they're not only looking for a dessert—they’re seeking emotional comfort and a moment of indulgence. JTBD helps surface this less functional and more emotional job: “Make me feel better.”

Social Setting: Hosting Game Night

Another scenario: someone shopping for snacks before hosting friends for a game night. They might choose shareable, easy-to-serve items. The job here could be “Help me be a good host without spending too much time preparing.”

Why These Contexts Matter

By connecting these insights to when, why, and how consumers choose a product, food and beverage brands can:

• Design products that fit real-life needs
• Improve product positioning across different occasions
• Create messaging that resonates with lifestyle and context

Traditional demographic or categorical segmentation often misses these kinds of triggers. Jobs to Be Done adds a layer of understanding grounded in real consumer intentions. Whether it’s “help me treat myself,” “give me energy fast,” or “bring people together easily,” JTBD clarifies which jobs a product fulfills—so brands can compete in the right space.

Understanding what job a product is being hired to do allows teams to innovate with greater focus and purpose. Jobs to Be Done connects consumer behavior directly with product strategies, making innovation more targeted and product-market fit stronger.

Traditional vs. JTBD-Driven Innovation

Traditional product development often starts with assumptions—what feature can we add, what flavor is trending, what competitors are doing. JTBD flips the script. It begins with the context of the consumer:

What is the struggle they’re facing? What outcome are they trying to achieve? What are the friction points in existing options?

That foundation makes JTBD more than just a market research framework – it's a lens for smarter product decision-making.

Benefits of JTBD in Food and Beverage Product Innovation

• Reveals unmet needs: Understand the gaps traditional segmentation may miss – such as overlooked dayparts, emotional drivers, or underserved social settings
• Prioritizes innovation that matters: Develop concepts aligned to the most important customer jobs versus chasing trends or broad assumptions
• Inspires cross-functional alignment: When everyone – from R&D to marketing – understands the job, they can execute in a unified, customer-centric way
• Improves trial and repeat: Products crafted for clearer jobs and usage occasions tend to resonate more, helping break through and retain usage

Fictional Case Example: Snack Innovation

Imagine a brand learning that mid-afternoon snackers aren't just looking for low calories—they’re trying to escape screen fatigue and recharge mentally. That opens the door to inspiration beyond nutrition like mood-lifting flavors, sustainable packaging, or portable forms that work for a brisk walk break—all ideas rooted in a clearly defined “job.”

Tying It Together

Effective product innovation in food and beverage starts with a sharp focus on customer needs – not just features, but the deeper context of use. With JTBD guiding research, brands can move beyond guesswork and build solutions that naturally fit into real moments in people’s lives.

While Jobs to Be Done may sound complex at first, getting started is actually more accessible than many expect – particularly when guided by experienced research partners. A few foundational steps can help food and beverage brands begin to unlock usage occasion insights and understand customer needs through the lens of JTBD.

Step 1: Identify Key Usage Moments

Start by mapping out where your product lives in the consumer journey. Think beyond broad categories and home in on specific situations: morning rush, post-workout, late-night cravings, social snacking, etc. Each of these represents a discrete usage occasion with different jobs to fulfill.

Step 2: Conduct Qualitative Research

In-depth conversations or ethnographic studies are powerful tools to observe how and why consumers choose certain foods or beverages in context. This allows brands to hear language, emotions, and trade-offs that surveys alone may not capture. SIVO’s custom qualitative research services often help uncover these deeper patterns.

Step 3: Segment by Job, Not Just Demographic

Instead of only slicing audiences by age or income, cluster them by the “job” they're trying to do. One person could hire a product for three different reasons based on time or setting. Segmenting by job leads to richer brand strategy and more consistent messaging across touchpoints.

Step 4: Translate Findings Into Actionable Ideas

Once jobs and occasions are identified, co-create briefs with clear “jobs” at the core. These can inform product design, messaging themes, packaging formats, or new usage extensions. Our approach at SIVO always bridges insight to implementation—not just data gathering but real-world problem solving.

Optional: Pair With Quant for Validation

Qualitative JTBD discovery can be complemented with quantitative market research to validate job prevalence, appeal, or feature prioritization. Combining both gives food and beverage companies a solid foundation for confident innovation decisions.

Whether you’re developing a new snack concept or repositioning a legacy beverage, JTBD delivers the structure to focus on what truly matters—helping people accomplish specific goals in real daily moments.