CHICAGO—While economic woes have forced more Americans to eat at home more over the past few years, whipping up a from-scratch meal over a hot stove is not on the list of top priorities. According to the NPD Group’s “The 24th Annual Report on Eating Patterns in America,” more people turned to their microwaves to out dinner on the table.
“Microwaving has been flat for two decades, but it increased last year as Americans found a way to eat at home and not cook,” said Harry Balzer, chief industry analyst at The NPD Group, and author of the report. “We’re using our microwaves to warm and heat more, but not prepare more dishes from scratch.”
According to Balzer and NPD’s food industry market research, approximately 20 percent of all meals prepared in U.S. homes from 1990 to 2007 involved the use of a microwave, until last year when usage rose 10 percent. He said stove tops remain the most popular cooking appliance but the percent of main meals prepared on a stove top dropped from 52 percent in 1985 to 33 percent in 2009.