In a bit of good news for the restaurant industry and pizza in particular, a recent Harris Poll conducted among 2,503 adults found that a growing percentage of Americans are simply too busy to cook their meals at home.
While the poll did find that although many Americans do like to cook at home, most of them don’t have the time to do it regularly. Just two people in five or 41 percent, said they have time to prepare meals at home five or more times a week. Only 29 percent said they cook at home three or four times a week. Twenty percent of respondents said they are able to cook at home one to two times a week. Bringing up the rear is the 11 percent of people who pretty much never cook at home and rely on prepared foods, fast foods and restaurants all the time.
The poll also found that when people do cook at home, 75 percent of them use prepared and frozen foods. The findings also showed that the younger a person is, the less likely they are to prepare meals at home with one third of people from ages 18 to 33 cooking at home five or more times per week. When people do cook at home, three-quarters of them use microwave ovens and other convenience appliances to speed preparation.
These factoids are all good news for pizzerias and may explain the reason why take 'n' bake pizza franchises and other close-to-home-cooking takeout options have recently surged in popularity. The market for partially pre-prepared foods is expanding, which is good news for grocers and the restaurant industry as a whole.
