Rise of everyday treating

People feel justified in treating themselves more often and food plays a big day-to-day role, whether as a reward for a stressful day, a special occasion or just through boredom. Given the rise in disposable income, smaller households, and less formal eating times, treating is becoming a regular pastime for many people – often on a daily basis – with the treat involving an upgrade to an affordable premium or luxury product. Comfort foods with indulgent and exciting ingredients are popular choices.

Cosmopolitan palates versus nostalgic recipes

Consumers are showing more appreciation for good food and as such are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their food choices. There is a growing preference for authentic foreign foods for example, owing to more travelling abroad, a greater interest in cookery, exposure to different cultures and increasing media coverage of travel, cooking and food. Conversely, there is a trend for people to choose simple ingredients and recipes associated with their childhood, heritage or locality, often seeking out traditional meals from the past. This trend stems from a desire to search for things which are simple and homely as an antidote to the complexities of modern day lives.

That’s entertainment

Informal home entertaining is becoming increasingly popular. When entertaining other people, consumers are likely to want to serve more exciting food than they would prepare for themselves as an everyday meal. They may also be willing to put aside their normal healthy eating habits to enjoy themselves with their guests. Consumers want to impress, explore and create when they entertain but do not necessarily have the time to plan, purchase, prepare and cook everything. This creates significant opportunities for many fresh prepared food products for example dips, dressings, leafy salads, accompaniment breads and desserts.

What does this mean for Bakkavör?

The range of fresh prepared foods on offer provides consumers with ready-made solutions to the pleasure trend. Fresh prepared foods are often seen to be more premium than their frozen or ambient counterparts and, as they are quick and easy to prepare, can be a convenient everyday treat.

A strong interest in foreign food and authentic ingredients does not equate to more day-to-day cooking as people often have neither the culinary skill, inclination, nor time to cook from scratch regularly. However, people are demanding authenticity and many fresh prepared foods are made according to traditional recipes and contain ethnic ingredients that are often hard to find (for example Thai lime leaves, ketjap sauce and rice wine) – meals which would be very time consuming to replicate at home in the kitchen.