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Will 2017 be the year Americans finally ditch fast food in favour of homemade?
With the New Year on the horizon, US online grocer Peapod commissioned a national survey to see what food resolutions are topping US lists.
Peapod found that the home cooking trend is not slowing down, with 72% of Americans already cooking at home four nights or more per week.
And over a third of Americans surveyed (34%) plan to cook dinner at home even more in the New Year.
Leading the home cooking movement are Millennials, who are twice as likely as their older counterparts (49% of Millennials vs. 24% of Boomers) to make this a resolution for 2017.
After a season of holiday indulgences, Americans are looking forward to more mindful eating. Of those that cook at home, 53% would like to meal-plan more in 2017.The top three reasons are to save money (60%), eat more healthily (59%) and waste less food (55%).
Peapod senior vice president of sales and merchandising Andrea Eldridge said: “On our recipe inspiration web site, FromthePod.com, we’re definitely witnessing this trend of meal-planning, with consumers looking for new dinner ideas. In fact, traffic to our recipes increased 120% in 2016 from the previous year.
“Some of the most popular recipes were those that require 15 minutes or less of prep time or utilise a slow cooker for easy cooking.”
So what are Americans looking for when they plan dinner?
The number one factor, regardless of age, is ‘something easy’ with ingredients on hand. After that, Millennials and Boomers are split. Millennials say it has to be how quick the recipe is to cook (63%) while Boomers say it’s the nutrition of the meal that counts most (74%).
The second factor is inspiration. Some 51% of Americans would prepare dinner at home more often – if they had new ideas. Millennials need the most inspiration at 63%, compared with 42% for the more experienced Boomers.
Third is stovetop recipes. A total of 44% of Americans report the stovetop as their top tool at least four nights a week, compared with just 25% of Americans who turn on the oven and 24% that are microwavers.
Peapod serves markets throughout Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Founded in 1989 as a smart shopping option for busy households, it has delivered more than 40 million grocery orders.
Primary Methodology: ORC International conducted the research on behalf of Peapod via an online survey of among 1,063 adults between September 19 and September 21. Additional follow-up questions were asked to 1,013 adults between December 12 and December 14.
