We live in a culture where it's OK to be single. The pace at which the wheels of the commercialized world is moving requires employees to develop a work ethic that goes against family commitments, and for the single person, it even drastically reduces the possibility of finding a suitable partner with which to make a family unit! This, however, goes against the trend that seems to focus grocery sales on families and so creates an additional problem for the single person.

Go into any grocery store and you'll find bargains. There's special offers on this item, 2-1 offers on that, multi-sized savings, and so on around the store. These are not savings for the single person however. They are savings for those who have families to feed. Coupons that are supplied in local newspapers and advertising leaflets will also give greater savings to those who are able to purchase greater quantities for greater savings. However, getting 2 packages of toilet tissue for the price of one may make a mother of 3 jump for joy, but a single person would have benefited more from one package being reduced to half price because their consumption rate is much slower.

A single person is not likely to be interested in twin-packs of butter and washing detergent, but they would be interested in healthy meals that they don't have to cook. In this regard TV, or microwave, meals are finally catching on. Alongside the usual array of mashed potato and burgers, there's now an increasing choice of healthy balanced meals that cater for different dietary requirements. Rather than standard meal choices, there's a blend of traditional pot roasts side-by-side with international dishes with a Chinese or Italian flavor.

In a world where being single later in life isn't so much from lack of choice, but from lack of opportunity due to career choices, the stores need to start to pay more attention to the single person. At one time it was the mom and 2 kids that needed attention, and slowly it came in the shape of multi-child shopping carts, and special family parking areas.

These features are still needed, but the grocery store needs to consider the single-serving generation too, and to create features that will encourage single shoppers into their stores. These could include things such as express lanes that are strictly restricted to 6 items or less, some form of bonus scheme that will allow certain food groups to be combined in order to make savings, and even an increased online shopping service so that busy singles can place their shopping orders over the Internet and collect them from a distribution point in the store on their way home from work.

There's quite a bit of attention given to the romance opportunities for single people in the grocery store, but for the most part, the single serving generation is missing out because of the amount of hours they need to work, and the fact that most grocery stores are pandering to moms and families while ignoring the increasing number of single people who shop with them.