An international survey of more than 7,000 women ‘home cooks’ – including Australia and New Zealand – has found that digital technology is driving global growth with nearly half of all global consumers turning to their smartphone for inspiration while shopping for food and preparing meals.
American women lead the way with more than one-third using their smartphone to find recipes, while 18% of women worldwide visit websites to watch videos of meal preparation.
More than 80% of women prepare at least one meal a day at home, with Australian women the most likely to do so at 87%. Those least likely are German women (68%) and Canadian women (66%).
“We have tended to think that preparing a meal at home is for economic reasons but as Australian women do this the most, when they have one of the strongest economies of the countries in our survey, it is likely also because they want to and for health reasons for their family,” said Patricia Lee Smith, Vice-President of Allrecipes.com.
Ms Smith said the motivation to cook at home varied from country-to-country but healthier eating was the primary motivation in 56% of households, followed by greater meal variety and the love of cooking.
Despite this, global home cooks are less interested in cooking from scratch. Convenience products that contribute to a meal are also on the rise – such as a prepared sauce, pre-washed and cut vegetables, frozen ingredients – as long as they are also nutritious. In Australia and New Zealand, women identified ‘everyday ingredients’ as being important to their decision on what to cook. Fresh produce is found in 86% of global grocery trolleys every week.
"The adoption of web and mobile technologies across the globe is allowing family-focused cooks to discover, create, and share everyday recipes and meal planning solutions like never before," said Ms Smith.
"Home cooks across the globe increasingly leverage technology that changes how they shop, plan, and share recipes."
The 14 countries included in the survey were Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, the UK and the USA.
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