The Covid-19 pandemic has forced people to rely more on home cooking and home-made meals. That one is pretty obvious, but new research from Influence Central dug a little more deeply into that trend to find that:
- 88% of people are cooking more meals at home since stay-at-home orders went into effect.
- 49% are now cooking meals from scratch.
- 46% add into the mix pre-cooked and packaged foods.
- 5% stick mostly to pre-cooked and packaged options.
- These choices reflect consumer preference (57%) versus availability (43%).
- 84% of consumers eat the meals they prepare right away.
- 14% prefer preparing meals ahead of time.
Almost everyone is cooking more at home since Covid-19 struck.
Influence Central’s May survey of 630 consumers found 17% of respondents are now delegating more cooking responsibilities to spouses and partners. For 3%, responsibilities have reversed, which means for 80%, who cooks has not changed.
Other findings about cooking and ingredients used:
- Organics have become a skippable luxury for those on tight budgets.
- 67% have been forced to get creative with what’s left in their freezer and pantry between grocery orders or shopping.
- 57% have reorganized their pantries and food storage.
“Baking soda, flour, and sugar haven’t had a moment like this since the turn of the new millennium,” writes Stacy DeBroff, CEO and Founder, Influence Central.
“Pantry and freezer staples are a hot commodity, because as the old adage that sports fans so often use goes, the best ability is availability. Right now, consumers want to cut down on their trips to the grocery store, so anything that they can store outside of jam-packed (no food pun intended!) freezers has instant appeal, the likes of which these brands have not known in the past couple decades.”
We’ll have more on this study in future posts. Check what we’ve already written about it by clicking here.
The No Salt, No Fat, No Sugar Journal 