There’s a new public enemy in the food department—and it’s Ultra-Processed Foods, or UPFs. People are trying to avoid them, even if that means spending more time in the kitchen and creating recipe-less dishes, the Waitrose Food & Drink Report found.Awareness around processed foods has been on the rise for a while, helped, in part, by best-selling books like Ultra-Processed People, which highlight the risks they pose to mental and physical health. But the awareness is trickling down to how people prep their food. More consumers are turning to cooking things—from bread to entire meals—from scratch, according to a yearly Waitrose report that examines food and drink trends. The supermarket chain, owned by the Fortune 500 Europe-listed John Lewis Partnership, uses data from Mintel as well as its own surveys of 3,200 Waitrose shoppers. The report found that 61% of home cooks are concerned about UPFs, which has inspired them to cook food from scratch more now than a year ago. This trend is also turning content creators who make chewing gum and soft drinks at home into viral sensations. Shoppers are increasingly keeping a distance from foods that claim to be low fat or have artificial sweeteners, opting for traditional ingredients they once shunned as not being healthy enough. “We know our customers are on the lookout for foods which are not processed, or are minimally processed, and there’s been a raised interest in age-old techniques due to this trend,” said Waitrose’s innovation manager Lizzie Haywood. More people are pickling or making butter at home as a result. In general, though, “we remain time poor,” which makes shoppers reluctant to spend money on ingredients they won’t use often. “The search for simple scratch cooking ideas has also boosted sales of quality canned and jarred foods, including fish, legumes and vegetables,” the report said, calling 2024 the “year of the bean.” Recipes centered around using beans to make dips, pastas, or simply incorporate a new form of protein into meals boomed in popularity—thanks, also, to TikTok-fueled excitement around it. Most of the pandemic-era hangover has left us by now, but the habit of hosting people at home more than going out is still around (thank you, cost of living crisis). That means the demand for top-tasting, homely food is soaring, driving the sales of cooking sauces and marinades that elevate the taste of home-cooked meals. It was also a year when people felt inspired without specific recipes. All they needed was a bit of time to put whatever ingredients they had together without it being a disaster. “TikTok is full of culinary hacks, and 72% of young people report that they feel confident making a meal without a recipe to follow,” the Waitrose report said. Home cooks aren’t without choices even if they want to keep things simple. Condiments like hot honey, chilli oil, and toum are very much in people’s radars to help take a regular recipe up a notch.
