In its report, “Cooking up the Future of Eating,” Numerator analyzed how the pandemic has caused potentially lasting shifts in at-home eating behaviors in light of lifestyle changes consumers have made during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As eating changes, so will housewares needs related to cooking and food storage.
The Numerator study indicated that consumers eating at home want to keep things simple but also want to be more proficient home chefs. People who want to learn new ways to prepare easy meals could find companies offering help attractive.
Numerator found:
- About 29% of consumers expect to keep a flexible work situation in a post-coronavirus world.
- Work from home shoppers are high-income, young and ethnically diverse, while 45% more likely to seek out natural/organic foods, 57% more likely to place weekly online orders, and 34% more likely to buy in bulk than the average consumer.
- Consumers today expect to cook at home four out of five weeknights.
- Snacking is stealing eating occasions from formal meals, as 26% of consumers say that they eat three snacks per day, up from 19% who said the same pre-pandemic.
- Heat and eat meals show the highest overall growth since the onset of the pandemic, outpacing total at-home meals growth by about a quarter.
- Among snacking brands, healthier options are losing wallet share as more indulgent snacks are gaining and outpacing the overall growth of the product category.
- Just over a third of consumers say they want time-saving solutions that don’t sacrifice on taste or healthfulness, with 26% saying they want quality ingredients that are more affordable and accessible.
- As for at-home meal prep, 80% of consumers say they prioritize quick and easy meal solutions, 75% say they stick to a few meals that they’re comfortable preparing, 74% say that working from home allows them more time to cook homemade meals, 63% say they wish they that their cooking repertoire included a wider variety of meals, 56% say they have eaten more family meals since the onset of the pandemic and 50% say meal planning and preparation are stressful.
