Since its peak in 2020 and 2021, cooking at home has decreased slightly, but 64% of Americans are continuing to do so to save money and control their budget. After gaining confidence in the kitchen during lockdown, Americans are looking for inspiration to DIY healthier-for-them meals at home – preferably with ingredients from deals in the frozen and refrigerated food aisles. They are also relying more on online grocery shopping and social media for inspiration on how to use those ingredients.

The National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association, a nonprofit trade association representing all segments of the frozen and refrigerated foods industry, released these findings as part of its latest “Eating at Home” industry report. The report is the culmination of a large-scale research study conducted to better understand Americans’ changing grocery-shopping habits.

To gather data, researchers surveyed more than 12,000 U.S. consumers. To gain in-depth, everyday insights, twenty consumers from across the U.S. welcomed researchers into their homes and to their local grocery stores. Additionally, a large-scale analysis of news and social media content helped researchers identify and understand consumer perspectives surrounding frozen and refrigerated foods over the past 18 months up to mid-August of 2023.

“This is the largest research undertaking from the NFRA on behalf of the frozen and refrigerated food industry, with the results yielding directional insights for food manufacturers on consumer trends,” said NFRA President and CEO Jeff Rumachik.

While the entire report is available to read – including directional insights for those in the industry – some trends from the report are available now for the public.

Health-ier choices

Americans are prioritizing “healthier-for-me” options, especially as they gain control over what ingredients go into their meals.

• Taste or flavor (66%), quality of the groceries (65%) and healthiness (49%) determine what consumers are putting in their carts.
• Nearly 3 in 5 consumers (59%) said they began cooking at home using frozen main dishes that are easier to prepare, while making their own side dishes, sometime within the past three years.

Convenient and cost-effective options

Convenience doesn’t mean people are just putting frozen dinners in the oven. They’re making some dishes from scratch while using frozen foods aisle finds to make their home-cooked meals complete. As shoppers continue to explore new tastes and recipes, they’re also taking notice of increased variety within the frozen aisle – as well as hunting for deals to help their budget.

Forty-five percent of consumers rely on air fryers, and 43% use slow cookers to cook and prepare food. As of September 2023, there were 9.7 billion views of videos tagged with #airfryer, according to media analysis, Atomik Research 2023.

Technology’s growing role in food

Technology and social media are having a major influence in shifting how and what Americans eat. Consumers are adopting online grocery shopping and looking to social media for cooking inspiration to make eating at home more convenient or to fill in the gaps when they don’t have the skillset for making a recipe.

• More than half (54%) of consumers are learning about food and cooking through TikTok and YouTube.
• A third of consumers (33%) prefer to shop for groceries online because automated recommended purchases/"programmatic reminders" help ensure that they never forget the ingredients they need for recipes.

For more information about the research and its methodology, or to read the full report or contact NFRA, visit here.

Source: National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association