One of the abiding disappointments for TV production companies is that no matter how well-watched cooking shows are, their impact on the cooking habits of viewers remains woefully low. Jamie Oliver and James Martin make great programmes, but research shows they don’t make great inroads into improving home cooking habits.
That is changing. The escalation of online cooking hacks on social platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and YouTube are fundamentally reshaping how people approach cooking and eating. Online hacks range from simple meal-prep techniques to innovative ways to make meals more accessible and enjoyable.
Traditionally, cooking knowledge was passed down through the generations or learned through formal training. Now anyone with an internet connection can access thousands of quick and visually clear kitchen tricks. As well as enabling people to make more mindful food choices, the hacks are breaking down culinary barriers in a way TV programmes and cookery books have never managed.
The current craze for recipes using a minimal number of ingredients and requiring basic kitchen tools – often nothing more than a knife, fork and spoon – to deliver quick and easy meals is revolutionising the way we eat, and is applicable for people of all skill levels.
At the heart of the hacks is always speed. This is frequently achieved by not doing things the conventional way. For example, who would have thought of putting dry pasta and a few other ingredients in one dish straight in the oven? Hey presto – dinner is cooked without faff or needless pots and pans. Or there’s ‘cloud bread’, which has just three ingredients and has become a viral trend.
This new and here-to-stay influence will have significant consequences for food manufacturers, too. At its most extreme, it may impact purchasing habits when making a meal at home becomes easier and ‘cleaner’ with fewer ingredients. At the very least, it has the potential to change the direction of Gen Z consumers, and have a even more impact than the ‘Delia effect’, which resulted in national shortages of particular ingredients, such as cranberries.
Trying to predict what comes next is nigh impossible. But we do know internet food trends spread rapidly – one day it’s cottage cheese, the next dalgona coffee. Online food content creators are often everyday people rather than professional chefs, and this means young consumers are more likely to engage with them. They know their market wants budget-friendly ingredients and quick preparation time aligning with their lifestyle, which is likely to be limited by time and cooking skills.
It’s a storm cloud on the horizon that has the potential to cause major disruption in consumer buying habits. The speed at which the internet has become a destination for culinary inspiration, how-to content and mouthwatering outcomes is astonishing.
As food manufacturers, we ignore the changing shape of consumer demand at our peril. It’s an exciting time, but not a time to rest on our laurels.
David Milner is the executive chairman at Crosta Mollica
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