What you need to know
In 2018, Cooking Enthusiasts account for 45% of adults aged 18+, or about 113 million people. These adults have at least basic cooking skills, like or love cooking, and cook because they want to rather than because they have to. However, the number of Unenthusiastic Cooks is rising, while the number of Conflicted Cooks is falling, which is important as Conflicted Cooks have the closest psychographic profile to Cooking Enthusiasts. A strong economy is luring people to dine out, so bringing these people back into the kitchen is a challenge for players in the at-home food industry.
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. 45% of American adults aged 18+ are Cooking Enthusiasts, which equates to roughly 113 million people.
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Unenthusiastic Cooks cook occasionally or frequently but state that they either don’t mind cooking or dislike it. 21% of American adults aged 18+ are Unenthusiastic Cooks, which equates to roughly 53 million adults.
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Conflicted Cooks 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 say they like or love to cook but don’t have any skills, while others dislike cooking but have advanced or very advanced skills. 17% of American adults aged 18+ are Conflicted Cooks, which equates to about 43 million adults.
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Infrequent Cooks rarely cook. 11% of American adults aged 18+ are Infrequent Cooks, which equates to about 28 million adults.
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Non-Cooks never cook. 5% of American adults aged 18+ never cook, which equates to roughly 13 million adults.
This Report builds on the analysis presented in Mintel’s Cooking Enthusiasts – US, November 2017, as well as the 2011-2015 Reports of the same title. Readers of this Report may also be interested in Grocery Retailing – US, July 2018 and Better For You Eating Trends – US, August 2018.
