Data released by Tesco suggests that shoppers in the UK are increasingly cooking international dishes at home to save money and experimenting with flavours from across the globe.
The supermarket said that sales of ingredients and meal kits for a range of global cuisines have been consistently rising in the last year as people look for alternatives to takeaways and learn to cook their own versions at home.
Ingredients to make favourites like Indian curry are top of the charts, increasing by 33%, with items to cook a Chinese meal second – up by 32%. However, pan-Asian products to help make Korean, Japanese or Thai meals are also up by 15%. And Caribbean meal kits and ingredients are high in the charts, rising 14% over the last year.
The demand for global ingredients has led to Tesco extending its range of World Foods in existing stores by 35%. The grocer has also introduced World Foods displays in 8% more stores.
Tesco has just launched its largest-ever promotion for the category, with almost 2,000 products offered at a 20% discount for customers with a Clubcard until 8 August.
As well as buying individual ingredients, Tesco noted that its customers have also been experimenting more with meal kits to make themselves dishes like Donburi rice bowls or Yakisoba noodles from Japan, and Bibimbap, which is a Korean rice dish.
Tesco has been offering inspiration to encourage its customers to continue to experiment with new global dishes, with in-aisle displays featuring Middle Eastern, Latin American, Japanese & Korean foods.
Abigail Wilkinson, Tesco Category Buying Manager for cooking ingredients and global cuisine, commented: “We have seen a significant trend for customers looking to save money by cooking for themselves, rather than eating out as much. And they are being more adventurous in the kind of meals they are cooking at home.
“Shoppers are buying more ingredients or kits to make popular classics like curry or Chinese stir fry, but we’ve also seen them branching out into cuisines such as Japanese, Thai or Korean. We are trying to expand our offering to meet this demand and to inspire home cooks with new ingredients and kits to help them to feel confident in making something new and delicious.”
NAM Implications:
- A loss to hospitality.
- A gain for Tesco.
- And a possible change in behaviour…
