Evening Meals - US

Published by: Mintel International Group Ltd.

Published: Jan. 1, 2008 - 78 Pages

Table of Contents

Scope and Themes

What you need to know

Definition

Abbreviations and terms

Abbreviations

Terms

Executive Summary

The bottom line: simplify and streamline evening meal needs

Emotional reasons edge out practicality among reasons to cook at home

Numerous convenient dinner solutions challenge home cooking

You have to be home to cook!

The time crunch

Evening meals require planning and variety

The composition of the evening meal is evolving

Future trends

Americans’ reliance on convenience foods continues to grow

Spending less dining out, eating home more

Younger diners pose shifts in evening meal plans

Online ordering

Smaller households and Baby Boomers

Long-term health trends

Market Factors

Summary

Reasons consumers cook dinner

Figure 1: The reason for cooking dinner at home, November 2007

Figure 2: The reason for cooking dinner at home, by gender, November 2007

Figure 3: The reason for cooking dinner at home, by age, November 2007

Figure 4: The reason for cooking dinner at home, by household income, November 2007

Figure 5: The reason for cooking dinner at home, by race/ethnicity, November 2007

Figure 6: The reason for cooking dinner at home, by number of people in the household, November 2007

Attitudes toward cooking dinner

Figure 7: Attitudes and behaviors related to cooking, September 2007

Competition for Cooking

Scratch cooking still popular, followed by many, many other options

Figure 8: What consumers do for dinner, November 2007

Figure 9: What consumers do for dinner, by gender, November 2007

Figure 10: What consumers do for dinner, by age, November 2007

Figure 11: What consumers do for dinner, by household income, November 2007

Figure 12: What consumers do for dinner, by race/ethnicity, November 2007

Figure 13: What consumers do for dinner, by number of people in the household, November 2007

Restaurants

Carry out and delivery

Prepared foods

Meal assembly kitchens

Who Cooks Dinner?

Summary

Figure 14: Who has responsibility for cooking home meals, by gender, November 2007

Figure 15: Who has responsibility for cooking home meals, by race/ethnicity, November 2007

Figure 16: Who has responsibility for cooking home meals, by employment status, November 2007

Time Factors and the Evening Meal

Summary

Leaving work

Figure 17: When respondents leave work, by gender, November 2007

Scratch cooking vs. packaged food preparation

Figure 18: Time spent cooking a meal from scratch compared to one prepared from packaged foods, November 2007

The dinner hour

Figure 19: When respondents sit down to dinner when cooked for them on a weekday, by age, November 2007

Figure 20: When respondents sit down to dinner when cooked for them on a weekday, by race/ethnicity, November 2007

The weekend dinner hour

Figure 21: When respondents sit down to dinner when cooked for them on a weekend, by age, November 2007

Multi-tasking required—activities while cooking and eating

Figure 22: Activities on a typical evening while cooking and eating, November 2007

Dinner Planning and Recipe Usage

Summary

Advance planning

Figure 23: How far in advance respondents plan dinners for themselves or their families, by race/ethnicity, November 2007

Figure 24: How far in advance respondents plan dinners for themselves or their families, by number of people in the household, November 2007

Short-term dinner planning

Figure 25: When respondents decide what to cook for their dinners, by gender, November 2007

Figure 26: When respondents decide what to cook for their dinners, by age, November 2007

Figure 27: When respondents decide what to cook for their dinners, by race/ethnicity, November 2007

Figure 28: When respondents decide what to cook for their dinners, by number of children in household, November 2007

Meal variety

Figure 29: Number of recipes and meal plans used on a regular basis, by gender, November 2007

Figure 30: Number of recipes and meal plans used on a regular basis, by age, November 2007

Recipe ideas

Figure 31: Where respondents get their recipe/dinner ideas, by gender, November 2007

Figure 32: Where respondents get their recipe/dinner ideas, by age, November 2007

Figure 33: Where respondents get their recipe/dinner ideas, by household income, November 2007

Figure 34: Where respondents get their recipe/dinner ideas, by race/ethnicity, November 2007

What Makes up the Dinner Meal

Summary

Meat/protein

Figure 35: Number of meats/proteins used in home-cooked dinner, by gender, November 2007

Figure 36: Number of meats/proteins used in home-cooked dinner, by age, November 2007

Figure 37: Number of meats/proteins used in home-cooked dinner, by household income, November 2007

Figure 38: Number of meats/proteins used in home-cooked dinner, by race/ethnicity, November 2007

Starches

Figure 39: Number of starches used in home-cooked dinner, by gender, November 2007

Figure 40: Number of starches used in home-cooked dinner, by age, November 2007

Figure 41: Number of starches used in home-cooked dinner, by household income, November 2007

Figure 42: Number of starches used in home-cooked dinner, by race/ethnicity, November 2007

Figure 43: Number of starches used in home-cooked dinner, by region, November 2007

Vegetables

Figure 44: Number of vegetables used in home-cooked dinner, by gender, November 2007

Figure 45: Number of vegetables used in home-cooked dinner, by race/ethnicity, November 2007

Figure 46: Number of vegetables used in home-cooked dinner, by region, November 2007

Fruit

Figure 47: Number of fruit used in home-cooked dinner, by gender, November 2007

Figure 48: Number of fruit used in home-cooked dinner, by age, November 2007

Appendix: Trade Associations

Abstract

This report focuses on specific attitudes and behaviors related to cooking dinner, including cooking motivations, meal preparation times and other activities that occur during dinnertime:

• Under what circumstances do consumers cook dinner at home?
• What do consumers eat for dinner?
• Who typically cooks the evening meals?
• How do work schedules impact evening meals?
• What else are consumers doing while eating evening meals?
• How far in advance do consumers plan dinner?

Dinnertime is one of the most hectic times of the day for most Americans. Consumers are overwhelmed by the challenge of delivering appealing, healthy and cost-effective meals, while still spending quality time with family. Mintel expands on the opportunities for convenience food purveyors to market timesaving dinner solutions.

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