April 2020
Featured in this insight: Food & drink, Medical & healthcare, Public health & wellbeing
45% of UK adults are cooking more since Covid-19 lockdown began: A survey looking at the changes in cooking habits of adults in the UK has found that since COVID-19 lockdown measures were introduced, 45% of adults are putting their kitchens to good use and making more of their own meals.
The reasons given for this included having more time (54%), as well as having no choice but to create meals from scratch due to the types of produce they can now source.
The nationally representative survey of 2,000 UK adults by Hubbub found that although 44% are really enjoying the additional cooking, a quarter (26%) are finding the constant preparation of meals to be exhausting.
Just over a third (34%) revealed that they see lockdown as an opportunity to improve their cooking skills, however this number was much higher amongst 16–24 year-olds, with nearly half wanting to make use of the time to improve their culinary know-how. And although people are unable to eat out at restaurants at this time, it hasn't stopped 40% of this age group trying to recreate the experience over video link.
Appreciating food more
The lockdown measures have also encouraged people to be more thankful for their food, suggests the poll, with 57% saying they value their food more, and 43% saying they are getting more enjoyment from the food they're eating.
The survey also found that people are wasting less food. Indeed, 48% said they have noticed they are throwing away less food since the lockdown began – with only 6% saying they are throwing away more food than they were.
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