What you need to know
About four in 10 Americans can be classified as Cooking Enthusiasts. Macroeconomics and lifestyle play a role in people’s cooking habits, sometimes in opposition to one another when motivating people to cook. While a stable and growing economy is driving restaurant visits, the desire for healthful and fresher ingredients, and the need to control the quality of the meal – along with an actual liking for cooking – help keep many households cooking regularly at home. Even though some restaurants and services are offering fresh and organic ingredients or freshly cooked meals for delivery or pickup, the cost implications may still be a barrier which keeps those options from having a dramatic negative impact on home cooking.
Definition
For the purposes of this Report, Mintel has used the following definitions:
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Cooking Enthusiasts are those who cook, say they either like or love cooking, have at least basic cooking skills, and typically cook because they want to rather than because they have to. 41% of American adults aged 18+ are Cooking Enthusiasts, which equates to roughly 101 million adults.
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Unenthusiastic Cooks are those who cook occasionally or frequently but don’t mind or dislike it. 22% of American adults aged 18+ are Unenthusiastic Cooks, which equates to roughly 53.4 million adults.
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Infrequent Cooks are those who rarely cook. 18% of American adults aged 18+ are Infrequent Cooks, which equates to about 43.6 million adults.
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Conflicted Cooks are those who are on the fence about their enthusiasm for cooking. While they do cook, like or love cooking, and have at least basic skills, they typically cook because they have to (not because they want to). Moreover, some Conflicted Cooks like or love to cook but don’t have any skills, while others dislike cooking but have advanced or very advanced skills. 11% of American adults aged 18+ are Conflicted Cooks, which equates to about 27 million adults.
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Non-Cooks are those who never cook. 9% of American adults aged 18+ never cook, which equates to roughly 22.8 million adults.
This Report builds on the analysis presented in Mintel’s Cooking Enthusiasts – US, October 2014 , as well as the October 2013, October 2012, and October 2011 Reports of the same title. Readers may also be interested in Mintel’s Hispanic Cooking Enthusiasts – US, October 2015.
