Evening Meals - US - January 2008

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 2007Figure 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 2007Figure 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