While Americans' growing propensity to consume more meals at home is well documented by now, preparation trends point to relatively static amounts of stovetop — and even microwave — cooking currently going on in our kitchens, according to long-term data from The NPD Group's ongoing National Eating Trends research.
The data, now stretching back 30 years, confirm a gradual increase in annual per-capita meals prepared (including partially pre-prepared foods) and consumed at home in recent years — 877 in 2010, compared to 861 in pre-recession 2007. However, they also show that the current uptrend actually began in 2003. Furthermore, the current average still has not quite reached the levels of the mid-1980s. (The peak was 914, in 1986; the low point was 817, in 2002.)
Equally or even more significant for food and beverage makers and grocery retailers, however, are the marked changes in preparation and cooking behaviors over that period. For example, in the early 80s, 72% of main dinner dishes were homemade. Today, 59% of main dishes are more or less made from scratch.
This, of course, reflects the growing preference for ready-to-eat and frozen foods that can be heated up or "assembled" rather than prepared in the traditional sense of the word, notes Mark East, president of NPD's North American food and beverage unit.
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