The cooking genie is out of the bottle
Ahead of our first Professional Development Series Event of 2021, presenter Norrelle Goldring has provided preliminary research findings on the implications for occasion-based marketing, communications and touchpoint strategy.
Stay-at-home restrictions forced people to cook at home, and with working from home here to stay, a number of consumption and purchasing behaviours have changed.
By Norrelle Goldring
One of the key determinants of FMCG category consumption and shopping behaviours is the extent to which people will continue working from home into the future.
According to Project Hearth, Illuminera’s recent study into at-home consumption behaviour changes since COVID-19, 46 per cent of our sample of 2,200 people, as at late October, are now working from home somewhere between occasionally and all the time, versus 30 per cent pre-COVID. Various reports suggest many previously office-based employees will only be returning to a work commute 2-3 days per week.
Increased working from home has had a marked impact on a number of categories, beverage in particular, with 33 per cent of our consumers reporting increased coffee consumption at home. Another major impact of working from home has been on snacking. Earlier in the pandemic the consumers we spoke with for Project Hearth were snacking not only more frequently but more indulgently; out of boredom and needing a break but also as treat and reward for not being able to go anywhere. However in the past few months, in a bid to lose the resulting ‘COVID kilos’ and because many now realize working from home in some fashion is likely to become an ongoing proposition for the foreseeable future, consumers are pragmatically seeking out healthier snacking options rather than attempting to reduce snacking frequency. Some are starting to bake their own snacks such as banana bread, or make their own hummus. We have also observed the rise of cheese and crackers, including in the new occasion of snacking whilst preparing dinner due to longer dinner preparation times.
Project Hearth data identified that shoppers are shopping less often to reduce social contact instore, with supermarket trips dropping typically to a once-a-week stockup shop, also because shoppers are stocking their pantries in order to cook with more leftovers in mind. We have observed more bulk buys via larger pack sizes, more items in the pack, and more multiple-item purchases, thus average weight of purchase per trip has increased. This behaviour is likely to stick not only as long as cluster coronavirus outbreaks persist, but into 2021 as vaccine distribution moves forward. This is because consumers indicated they have found the greater time available to plan, prepare and cook meals, often bulk cooking meals, has resulted in both an efficiency and enjoyment they want to retain.
(On the other hand, the increase in cooking at home has led to a need or even desperation for variety, including for international meals. More involved Competent and Gourmet cooks have admitted to ‘roaming the supermarket, looking for inspiration’.)
There have been a number of benefits of the pandemic that consumers would like to retain into the future, the primary one being time. Less rush, more time available (due to less commute) to spend with family and on cooking. The kitchen, rather than the lounge room, has become, and looks set to remain, the ‘hearth’ of the home.
*Quantitative fieldwork and data collected 19-25 October, 2020. Sample size n=2,200
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ABOUT NORRELLE GOLDRING & ILLUMINERA
Norrelle Goldring is Executive Director of Illuminera Australia, part of the fast-growing APAC analytics, research, strategy and activation-based Illuminera Group of companies. Contact Norrelle at norrelle.goldring@illuminera.com or call +61 411 735 190. www.illuminera.com
