Changing Cooking Behaviors & Attitudes tracks the evolving nature of consumers' food preparation practices as a variety of lifestyle and societal factors continue to fuel a shift to convenience. It also discusses how many consumers are attempting to reassert themselves in the kitchen, offering opportunities to industry actors who can deliver convenience, health, indulgence and comfort needs.

Scope

A unique survey of home cooking behaviors was conducted with 5,000 consumers across the US and Europe during June 2006
In-depth quantitative data covering at-home meal occasions, including dinner by cooking type (scratch-, part- and fully-prepared)
Detailed action points offering practical strategies based on the trends and insights analyzed in the report
Countries covered: France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, UK, US

Report Highlights

Consumers' attitudes still largely favor scratch-cooking (52% of European dinner occasions and 44% in the US) and increasing people are aspiring to alter day-to-day cooking behaviors to more accurately reflect this. Cooking skills, especially amongst younger consumers are associated with a "new cool" and are seeing signs of a renaissance.

Despite a growing interest in cooking as a showpiece event, the overall trend continues to be a move away from traditional forms of cooking towards convenience options. Fragmenting mealtimes, erosion of basic cooking skills and a desire to use free-time for other activities will continue to fuel the desire for time-saving, easy meal solutions.

Consumers' meal choices and methods of food preparation are the product of the tension between the three consumer mega-trends of convenience, health and sensory indulgence. Solutions that hit all three areas, such as the emergent meal assembly industry, or help in establishing producers as consumers' trusted helpers will be well placed to benefit.

Reasons to Purchase

Uncover fresh insights into the changing attitudes and behaviors affecting consumers' food preparation choices in the home
Obtain exclusive data on cooking occasions and consumers' cooking practices in the US and Europe
Improve your marketing strategy by targeting the most profitable occasions and their accompanying need states

CHAPTER 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- Hot topic
- The future decoded
  - Everyday meal occasions are still increasingly characterized by convenience
    - Consumers are time poor and suffering from limited cooking skills
    - Basic cooking tasks are now seen as difficult by many consumers
    - Cooking is a low priority in allocating free time
  - Consumers are increasingly keen to cook exciting, flavorful and interesting meals themselves
    - Consumers are seeking authenticity in their food
    - Scratch-cooked foods have strong comfort associations
  - Cooking behaviors and attitudes are affected by the conflicting convenience, health and sensory mega-trends
  - Home cooking is emerging as a "status skill"
  - Cooking behavior is influenced by occasion
  - Lifestage has a direct impact on cooking behaviors and attitudes
- Action points
CHAPTER 2 THE FUTURE DECODED
- Introduction
- Key findings
- TREND: Everyday meal occasions continue to be increasingly characterized by convenience
  - The fragmentation of mealtimes continues to fuel the convenience trend
    - Mealtimes are being missed
    - Out-of-home meal consumption is increasingly common
- TREND: Cooking from scratch occasions will decrease under pressure from more convenient options
  - European consumers still opt for scratch-cooking most frequently
  - Fully- and part-prepared meals now lead scratch-cooked in the US
  - Looking ahead, scratch-preparation will be pressured more in Europe than the US
  - Proliferating prepared premium options are making it easier to choose convenience at-home
- Consumers place meal preparation low in terms of prioritizing their free time
  - Time-intensity and ease influence frequency of different cooking methods
  - Consumers would rather spend their time doing other things than cook
  - The value and role of mealtimes varies by region
- Cooking skills have been eroded, promoting convenience options
  - European and US consumers experience similar problems in preparing gourmet-type meals at home
  - Culinary skills are not being passed down by generation
  - Basic cooking tasks are now perceived as difficult by many consumers
  - Lack of confidence in cooking may undermine healthy eating messages
  - Time is also seen as a barrier to healthy eating
- TREND: Consumers are however increasingly keen to cook exciting, flavorful and interesting meals themselves
  - The home remains the central location for mealtimes
  - Scratch-prepared meals are still the most common meal-type
    - Scratch-prepared meals account for the majority share of dinners in Europe
    - Scratch meals hold the largest individual share in the US
  - Traditional cooking methods remain the most popular
    - Grilling leads based on ease, speed and health factors
  - Consumers are seeking more authentic foods and flavors
    - Home cooked foods offer that authenticity
    - Consumers are becoming more experimental
  - Home-cooked foods are a key source of comfort
  - Home-cooking can offer both economy and premiumization opportunities
  - At-home occasions are forecast to increase due to aging populations
- TREND: Cooking behaviors and attitudes are affected by the conflicting convenience, health and sensory mega-trends
  - Consumers compromise between the three key mega-trends
    - Frequency of meal preparation by type shows the mega-trend compromise
    - "Top-up" shopping reflects the fragmentation of mealtimes and shift to convenience
  - Traditional mealtimes and food preparation choices are affected by reactions to stress
- INSIGHT: Convenience is no longer a selling point on its own
- INSIGHT: Home cooking is emerging as a "status skill"
  - The ability to home cook is increasingly valued based on its creativity, especially among younger consumers
    - Gender affects value of cooking as a status skill
- INSIGHT: Cooking behavior is influenced by occasion
  - Entertaining at-home is widening in popularity
    - The dinner party market is strong
    - Young Adults are increasingly fueling the entertaining at-home trend
    - Family mealtimes built around home cooking are resurgent
    - Informal occasions still favor convenience options
- INSIGHT: The kitchen is the heart of the home
  - The kitchen is a key social location
    - A new kitchen is inspirational in consumers' desire to cook
- INSIGHT: home hygiene influences meal preparation choices
  - Food hygiene concerns can act as a countertrend to home hygiene improvements
- INSIGHT: Lifestage has a direct impact on cooking behaviors and attitudes
  - Cooking behavior variation by age group: gourmet versus quick-and-easy meals
    - Gourmet meals incidence diminishes with age in the US and UK but France bucks the trend
    - Quick-and-easy meals have widespread appeal
  - Younger consumers are looking to cook more creatively, bucking usual stereotypes
    - The young are still limited by weak cooking knowledge
  - Mid-lifers seek increased indulgence
    - Early- and late-Mid-lifers' attitudes vary
  - Seniors balance convenience and comfort in their cooking
    - Older consumers plan their food purchases more
- INSIGHT: Ethnic consumers spend more time on meals and cooking
  - Ethnic influences impact on mainstream cooking culture
- INSIGHT: Cooking attitudes and behaviors show gender variation
  - Women are still the primary cooks despite the erosion of skills
  - Confidence in cooking skills varies with gender
    - Differing tastes along gender lines influence cooking motivation
    - Women are embracing convenience despite stereotypes
    - Men are more likely to cook gourmet-style meals at home
- INSIGHT: Household living arrangements have an impact on the propensity for cooking or convenience
  - Food purchasing and preparation remains heavily gender-defined in shared households
  - Family cooking patterns reflect the tension between health, comfort and convenience
  - Singles lack the motivation to scratch-cook
  - Multigenerational catering in the home is increasingly common and problematic (adding to mealtime fragmentation)
- INSIGHT: "Kitchen performance anxiety" is a negative consequence of the home-cooking trend
- Conclusions
CHAPTER 3 ACTION POINTS
- Assist consumers in acquiring status skills
  - Aid consumers in building confidence in the kitchen
    - Educate consumers through recipe promotions
    - Promoting skills development will aid in building position as a trusted helper
    - Cater for differing levels of cooking ability and offer scope for consumers to improve
- Exploit the emergent meal assembly trend
  - Meal assembly can bridge key mega-trends
    - Offer single meal through to bulk-buying opportunities
    - Co-branding opportunities will become more common as the assembly kitchen concept proliferates
    - Develop bulk-buying opportunities in part-prepared and ready meals
    - Offer consumers choice in the degree of cooking input (offer variable levels of convenience)
- Develop crossover potential in convenience meal solutions
  - Develop more options for sharing
  - Pursue solutions that leverage the convenience needs of party hosts
- Promote convenience options that target the differing comfort needs of consumers
  - Pursue convenience options that target traditional/home-cooked preferences
    - Such products can appeal to all age groups
    - Target Seniors' particular comfort and convenience needs
CHAPTER 4 APPENDIX
- Supplementary data
  - At-home dinner occasions
  - Frequency of meal preparation by cooking method
  - Frequency of gourmet meal preparation by age group
  - Frequency of quick-and-easy meal preparation by age group
  - Prepared dinner occasions in Europe and the US
- Definitions
- Research methodology
- Further readings
- Report writing team
- How to contact experts in your industry
- List of Tables
  - Table 1: Number of skipped breakfast occasions per head, Europe and the US, 2006-2011
  - Table 2: Number of skipped lunch occasions per head, Europe and the US, 2006-2011
  - Table 3: Number of skipped dinner occasions per head, Europe and the US, 2006-2011
  - Table 4: Europe & US number of at-home dinner occasions (per head), by preparation type, 2006
  - Table 5: Europe & US forecast number of at-home dinner occasions (per head), by preparation type, 2011
  - Table 6: Europe & US growth in at-home dinner occasions (%), 2006-2011, by preparation type
  - Table 7: Europe & US share of dinners prepared at home versus out-of-home (%), 2006
  - Table 8: Ranking of cooking method by frequency, Europe and US
  - Table 9: Incidence of cooking type (%), Europe and US
  - Table 10: Europe & US number of at-home dinner occasions (millions), by preparation type, 2006
  - Table 11: Europe & US forecast number of at-home dinner occasions (millions), by preparation type, 2011
  - Table 12: Europe & US prepared dinners, by segment, per head, 2006
  - Table 13: Definitions of other terms
- List of Figures
  - Figure 1: Pressures on mealtimes motivate continuation of the convenience trend in cooking behaviors
  - Figure 2: At-home breakfasts fall as more occasions are missed or take place out-of-home
  - Figure 3: Lunches are meal occasion with the highest incidence of out-of-home consumption
  - Figure 4: Dinners remain predominantly at-home occasions but are under pressure
  - Figure 5: Microwaveable meals account for multiple occasions per week in both the US and Europe
  - Figure 6: Time intensive roasting and broiling are reserved for infrequent occasions
  - Figure 7: Consumers grill cook either very often or hardly ever
  - Figure 8: European and US consumers experience the same difficulties in scratch-preparing gourmet-style meals at home
  - Figure 9: Scratch-prepared meals account for the largest single shares of at-home dinners in both Europe and the US in 2006
  - Figure 10: Gourmet meals are prepared at home infrequently in the US and Europe
  - Figure 11: US and European consumers opt for convenient and quick meal options several times a week
  - Figure 12: US & European consumers aim to maximize healthy eating occasions
  - Figure 13: Convenience and mealtime fragmentation fuels the "top-up" shopping trend
  - Figure 14: Stress is a major factor responsible for convenience food sales along with busy lifestyles, but it also fuels an increased desire for comfort foods
  - Figure 15: Complete meal solutions can offer traditional comfort and convenience
  - Figure 16: The kitchen can influence consumers' cooking behaviors
  - Figure 17: Younger consumers in the US prepare gourmet meals most frequently
  - Figure 18: UK propensity for gourmet meal preparation is lower across all age groups
  - Figure 19: French consumers, in contrast, cook more gourmet meals with age
  - Figure 20: Quick-and-easy meal preparation is more consistent across the age divide in the US
  - Figure 21: Younger UK consumers prepare the most quick-and-easy meals
  - Figure 22: French consumers prepare quick-and-easy meals very frequently
  - Figure 23: Female consumers prepare healthy meals more frequently than males
  - Figure 24: Microwave cooking incidence is closely comparable between males and females
  - Figure 25: Women are less likely to prepare gourmet meals than men
  - Figure 26: US and European female consumers also opt for quick meal options more regularly than men
  - Figure 27: A number of factors are responsible for driving convenient approaches to food preparation and undermining scratch-cooking
  - Figure 28: Old El Paso ' Summer Sensations' recipe book emphasizes the brand' s versatility and that creativity can be fun and easy
  - Figure 29: The meal assembly model allows close alignment between convenience and premium quality attributes
  - Figure 30: Variety packs for prepared meals may allow companies to tap into the emergent bulk-buying trend
  - Figure 31: Stop N Shop ' Meals Made Easy' sort their product range by convenience/skill level
  - Figure 32: Sharing is a key trend emerging in convenience meal options
  - Figure 33: Convenience and comfort can be married in ready meal offerings
  - Figure 34: Europe & US frequency of meal preparation involving baking
  - Figure 35: Europe & US frequency of meal preparation involving boiling
  - Figure 36: Europe & US frequency of meal preparation involving frying
  - Figure 37: Europe & US frequency of meal preparation involving roasting/broiling
  - Figure 38: Europe & US frequency of meal preparation involving grilling
  - Figure 39: Europe & US frequency of meal preparation involving steaming
  - Figure 40: Europe & US frequency of oven use
  - Figure 41: Europe & US frequency of meal preparation involving outdoor cooking
  - Figure 42: Germany: frequency of gourmet meal preparation, by age group, 2006
  - Figure 43: Italy: frequency of gourmet meal preparation, by age group, 2006
  - Figure 44: Italy: frequency of gourmet meal preparation, by age group, 2006
  - Figure 45: Netherlands: frequency of gourmet meal preparation, by age group, 2006
  - Figure 46: Spain: frequency of gourmet meal preparation, by age group, 2006
  - Figure 47: Sweden: frequency of gourmet meal preparation, by age group, 2006
  - Figure 48: Germany: frequency of quick-and-easy meal preparation, by age group, 2006
  - Figure 49: Italy: frequency of quick-and-easy meal preparation, by age group, 2006
  - Figure 50: Netherlands: frequency of quick-and-easy meal preparation, by age group, 2006
  - Figure 51: Spain: frequency of quick-and-easy meal preparation, by age group, 2006
  - Figure 52: Sweden: frequency of quick-and-easy meal preparation, by age group, 2006

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Changing Cooking Behaviors & Attitudes: Beyond Convenience

Introduction

Abstract

Overview

Introduction

Scope

Report Highlights

Reasons to Purchase

Table of Contents

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