Study shows Brits kept calm and ate traditional food during lockdown
Research by the Co-op reveals the classics we turned to when the pandemic struck
The overriding memory of the pandemic, in food terms at least, is likely to be isles and isles of empty shelves where all the pasta, bread, rice, and flour should have been. But a report from Co-op has looked at the bigger picture, which has an all together more nostalgic feel.
We are a nation of classics lovers. The most popular meal cooked from scratch during lockdown was sausage and mash, with other British classics proving almost as popular.
Italian and Indian were next in the list, with some of us experimenting in the kitchen or returning to our motherland cuisine. But almost half of us decided to revisit dishes from our childhood.
42% started cooking from scratch, and most of us plan to continue to do so. We have become a more experimental nation, with each household adding an average of two new dishes to our repertoire. The biggest increase in those cooking from scratch was in the 25-35 age bracket.
Those of us not reaching for the fresh goods were clearly craving some of the goodies we like when we are out and about. The most popular Co-op ready meals closely resembled the food you'd be likely to find on a pub menu, with chicken tikka masala and pilau rice being the favourite.
Also popular were Co-op's cottage pie, mac and cheese, beef lasagne, and chicken korma with pilau rice.
Matt Hood, commercial director at Co-op said, “With an increase in at-home dining occasions during lockdown, customers turned to traditional recipes and pub classics to keep them comforted during the uncertain times. We’ve noticed that shoppers purchased six times as much fresh meat, with pork and beef seeing the biggest uplift, as we know households were spending more time cooking from scratch."
There was a nod to the past when it came to the dessert category, with most of going for quick versions of dishes we are likely to have had as children, further supporting the nation's return to traditional flavours. There was a massive 738% increase in sales of dried trifle and a 336% increase in sales of powdered custard.
Mark continued: "Packet mixes such as instant mash potato, trifle and custard, as well as canned meats and fish and even pickled onions also sold really well, as it looks like some consumers adopted habits similar to those of the 1970s. As Brits faced an indefinite time in lockdown, long life pantry goods, tinned foods and baking products saw a huge increase in sales, as well as baking products and sharing snacks as customers were shopping to last them more days.”
It's perhaps unsurprising that we were found to be purchasing more goods that would last upwards of 10 days, and more frozen food than before, in an effort to make fewer trips to the supermarket.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, sales of alcohol were through the roof, with many of us clearly missing a tipple of an evening in the pub. Beer, cider, and wine increased most and, with 50% of the volume of these produced normally going to pubs, the sales were redirected to shops.
How did your shopping habits change during lockdown?
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Comments (2)
I bought more processed American food. Dehydrated Mac cheese and Cornflakes. Frozen crinkle cut chips and mixed frozen veges . P. J. O’Rourkes research indicates more of the same in America.
Artisan stuff is out and cheap mass produced is in . American grocery store thrift is in . Convenience food is in , Macaroni Tuna , burgers , Weiners , bread and butter , hotdogs, plain sliced bread .
My grocery shopping has varied slightly from its standard or garden variety of average suburban level of boringness to a possible beige level of mass produced , packaged and microwaved leftovers . My pantry is so dull that reading my grocery shopping list could be considered to be a reasonable cure for insomnia.