Will Millennials lead a resurgence in home cooking?

Peapod has declared 2017 the “Year Of The Home Cook” with expectations the trend will be led by Millennials. A survey commissioned by the e-grocer tied to New Year’s resolutions found 34 percent of Americans are planning to cook dinner at home more in 2017. Of those, Millennials were twice as likely as Boomers to make the resolution (49 percent to 24 percent). The resolution may be wishful thinking given the overall decline over the last few decades in home cooking. A Washington Post article from 2015 attributed the downward trend to more women working, people having less time to cook, and big pushes behind prepared meals. On the positive side for the trend, Millennials are said to have a penchant for doing things themselves and being more adventurous in trying foods, indicating they’ll take to home cooking. "We see through secondary research that Millennials are cooking more," added Anna Conroy, planning director for mcgarrybowen, the advertising agency, as part of Google’s “Cooking Trends Among Millennials: Welcome to the Digital Kitchen” report. "It isn't a chore as much as an ability to create an experience." The top two reasons people cook at home — saving money and eating healthier — also play into Millennials' interests. On the other hand, Millennials are seen as more time-pressed than older generations. They already eat out and purchase prepared meals more, and they’re less likely to have learned to cook from their parents versus older generations. A recent ReportLinker survey also found that the popularity of television cooking shows, recipe websites and celebrity chefs doesn’t appear to be translating into a fervor for home cooking among the general population. Addressing many of the challenges to home cooking, Whole Foods listed “Mindful Meal Prep” among its top trends for 2017. Consumers are looking for shortcuts to save money, save time, reduce waste and eat healthier. Whole Foods wrote, “They’re coming up with new strategies to get dinner on the table — sometimes that means making some of the meal and buying the rest, or batch cooking at the beginning of the week or using a meal kit that cuts down on prep time.”

• Peapod Predicts 2017 Will Be The Year Of The Home Cook – Peapod
• Death of the home cooked dinner? Tea time becomes takeaway time for millennials – Aviva
• Cooking at home is still the preferred way to prepare a meal for 98% of Americans – ReportLinker
• The slow death of the home-cooked meal – The Washington Post
• Cooking Trends Among Millennials: Welcome to the Digital Kitchen – Google
• Why millennials don’t know how to cook – MarketWatch
• Our 2017 Trends Forecast is Here: Find Out What You’ll Be Eating (and Loving) Next Year – Whole Foods Market