The Future of At-Home Eating

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, eating at home has become more important— and this shift appears to be sticky. In this New Frontier report, we segmented consumers by their work situation, analyzed their behavior, and surveyed them on their shopping and consumption intentions to provide a comprehensive look at the future of eating.

We hope this analysis gives you a new perspective on the trends affecting the modern consumer, with actionable insights to incorporate into your marketing planning. Here is a summary of some of our findings here:

• Grocery categories commonly used for at-home meals continue to enjoy an elevated share of shopper spend. At the same time, snacking is becoming increasingly important, stealing eating occasions from formal meals
• Heat & Eat products have enjoyed the highest overall growth since the pandemic onset, outpacing total At-Home Meal growth by ~25%. Heat & Eat is also winning a larger wallet share among at-home meal types vs. pre-pandemic
• When asked what retailers and manufacturers can do to make home cooking easier, 35% of consumers asked for time-saving solutions that don’t sacrifice on taste or healthfulness. 26% said making quality ingredients more affordable and accessible is key