Brits’ new eating habits here to stay post-lockdown

The food and drinks industry has witnessed a huge shift in consumer behaviour since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, with many consumers cooking from scratch more and seeking out different ingredients. Now it seems these new habits could be here to stay.

According to a new survey from meal-kit company HelloFresh, 32% of Brits admit that their eating habits will change forever post-lockdown, with 30% saying they have wasted less food since lockdown began.

The findings also revealed that 48% of Brits have tried up to four new ingredients or recipes during that time, whilst 36% said they would continue to be adventurous in their cooking. Of the new ingredients people experimented with, coconut milk and chickpeas topped the list, followed by sweet chilli and pesto, five-spice and sundried tomatoes. Italian (20%), British (20%) and Chinese (15%) also proved to be popular cuisines for cooking at home.

When asked about their motivation behind experimenting with new flavours and cuisines, 33% said it was to try a new recipe, 24% were aiming to reduce food waste and 16% wanted to avoid going to the supermarket.

Sustainability proved to be a hot topic, with 39% saying lockdown has made them more sustainably aware of how they shop. What’s more, nearly four in ten Brits said they would be more likely to continue using up leftovers to make new meals post-lockdown, 38% said they are likely to stop doing as many food shops during the week, and 38% said they’re likely to try out new recipes every week using ingredients that are about to go off.

Speaking about the results, HelloFresh UK’s head chef Andre Dupin, said: “It’s great to see that there’s an increased commitment to reducing waste in the kitchen, a sustainable practice HelloFresh enables customers to do.”

The company hopes the findings will inspire home cooks across the UK to adopt more sustainable habits in the kitchen when cooking from scratch.