More than half of U.S. adults claim they really enjoy cooking (53%) and more than a third consider the kitchen to be the most important room in the home (35%), according to data in the new report Eating Trends: Cooking & Food Shopping from market research firm Packaged Facts. These percentages have risen compared to a decade ago. 
 
Packaged Facts found that most people who don’t cook at home either don’t have the time to go grocery shopping or aren’t confident in their cooking skills. Several gen Z adults, ages 18-24, and millennials, ages 25-39, don’t feel they have the ability to cook a good meal. 
 
The meal kit industry is making it easier for adults to start cooking more at home again. The products are marketed to emphasize several advantages that pique consumer interest and encourage cooking at home. Meal kits appeal to a wide range of consumers: those who have hectic schedules, high income consumers who don’t want to shop for groceries or plan meals,
consumers who don’t know how to cook but want to learn, as well as people who live alone or in a small household and don’t want to waste food.
 
Online grocery services provided by Amazon Prime Pantry, Amazon Fresh, Instacart, and Peapod—among others—have proven to be time savers for aspiring home cooks. Since 2013, online sales of groceries have more than tripled from $6 billion to $20 billion in 2018 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26%. Through 2023, Packaged Facts predicted online grocery sales will rise 34% annually, more than quadrupling from the levels in 2018 and coming to represent 7% of the total grocery market.
 
It’s worth watching in upcoming years how grocers and food retailers capitalize on contextual commerce, which offers consumers options ranging from buy buttons to messaging bots and voice assistants to scan-and-bag apps. With contextual commerce, consumers have the opportunity to make purchases anytime or anywhere with a button click if they choose, but even more conveniently with just their voices. Ultimately, the goal of contextual commerce is to expand retailers’ reach, allowing them to effortlessly implement purchase opportunities into consumers’ daily activities and natural environments. Similar to meal kits and food ecommerce, it’s ultimately another step toward saving home cooks time.