Dive Brief:
- Fathers want to do more cooking for their families and are taking a more active role in home food preparation, according to research from ThinkFood. Men make up more than 40% of homes’ primary shoppers, and 50% of them say they feel guilty when they don’t cook for their families.
- More than half (55%) of dads say they want to prepare more meals at home, but don’t have the time. Thirty-four percent say cooking without a microwave is stressful, indicating a lack of proper cooking skill set.
- About half (48%) of fathers opt for carryout or delivery items compared with 43% who turn to precooked, ready-to-heat proteins.
Dive Insight:
Food marketers and retailers have a huge opportunity to help dads rid their guilt and get dinner on the table by offering healthy and easy-to-prepare family meals. Convenience assortments that include meal kits, prepared and pre-prepared foodservice options with selections that rotate on a frequent basis could provide just the right recipe for this demographic.
A recent Harris Poll revealed 25% of adults purchased a meal kit in 2016, and 70% of meal kit purchasers have continued to buy them. The top reasons for purchasing meal kits are to save time on meal planning (46%) and shorten preparation and cooking times (45%).
A growing number of grocers — including Publix, Kroger and Whole Foods — are entering the meal kit space to compete with players like Blue Apron, Hello Fresh and Plated, which have found success in the meal kit business. The catch with these online services, however, is that consumers have to wait for them to be delivered.
Consequently, retailers have a huge opportunity to capture more immediate consumption shopping trips by adding grab-and-go meal kits — and, equally as important, targeting dads with these growing offers. To make it even easier, retailers can help this consumer base out by placing meal solutions displays near the store’s entrance for an easy in-and-out quick trip.
Retailers are also upping the ante in terms of healthy, prepared foodservice offerings, which can help fathers with little cooking experience provide nutritious meals for their families.
More branded meal kits are also popping up on store shelves as manufacturers start to partner with grocers on meal kits. Food manufacturers are rolling out more innovative convenience-oriented, healthy products too. For example, serving up Green Giant’s new Veggie Tots or Oh Yes! Foods vegetable- and fruit-based pizzas are a way to sneak more vegetables on the plate and easily get a square meal on the table.
Providing a convenient, healthy and rotating selection of meal solutions — and making them easy for dads to find in the grocery store — is key. Picking up a meal kit or prepared meal solution at the end of a long day can certainly help take the pressure off of dads in the kitchen.