According to the study, "Winning Shoppers in Turbulent Times," fresh meat and seafood ranked among the 12 categories that shoppers are least willing to abandon despite a troubling economy. The only other food product to make the list of necessary grocery items was canned vegetables; other priority items include deodorant, batteries and pet food.

One of the five categories of products to be most quickly cut from shoppers' lists, however, was frozen dinners, along with cookies, beer and wine, and soda.

Unilever's study also found that more than 30 percent of consumers are eating at home more and eating out less in order to manage budgets. Still, it found that while consumers are in the grocery store, most will continue to seek out trusted brands and will not switch to private label to save money.

"The reality is that consumers still need to feed their families during these tough times," said Lisa Klauser, vice president of consumer and customer solutions for Unilever.

Customers suggested that manufacturers and retailers be creative in product packaging and sales approaches, offering ideas such as introducing larger pack sizes of foods, or smaller package sizes at lower price points. Most consumers surveyed were not in favor of introducing slightly lower quality items with the same price point as a solution.

The Unilever study was based on a proprietary survey of more than 47,000 Nielsen households.

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