Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Younger consumers are significantly more likely than their older counterparts to be cooking more from scratch, thanks to the “foodie revolution” of the past two decades.
That is one of the findings of the latest IGD ShopperTrack research, which compared the attitudes to food and cooking of shoppers under 35 with those over 35.
In the survey, 51% of the younger consumers claimed to be cooking more from scratch now, compared to 35% of the over-35s – which IGD puts down partly to the influence of television chefs.
Said chief executive Joanne Denney-Finch: “The last 20 years have seen a foodie revolution as people have grown up watching celebrity chefs like Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson and Gordon Ramsay.”
The research also found that 43% of younger shoppers are cooking more with leftovers, compared to 30% of over-35s, and 30% of the under-35s are prepared to pay extra for premium quality food while the same is true for only 16% of their older counterparts.
At 26%, exactly twice as many younger shoppers expect to buy more organic food over the next 12 months, while 19% aspire to use more specialist stores like butchers, bakers and fishmongers, compared to just 8% of the over-35s.
“The under-35s have travelled abroad more than their parents and grandparents,” Denney-Finch went on. “They are more aware than ever of the challenges facing our global climate. And the internet has brought recipes from around the world direct to people’s kitchens.”
She added that young shoppers were more concerned with ethics, the environment and animal welfare, and that they selected their supermarket based partly on its commitment to environmental sustainability.
