Millennials' At-home Meal Prep Driving Share of Small Appliance Sales

Millennials are preparing more meals at home than ever before, which has led to an increased share of small kitchen appliance sales, according to The NPD Group.  

This under-35 age group consumed eight more meals at home over the last year, and accounted for 26 percent of the $6.2 billion small kitchen appliance market in 2014 – up from 21 percent in 2013.

According to NPD's "Encouraging More Visits from Millennials report," this younger generation opts to cook more meals at home because it "saves money, is healthier, tastes better, and they enjoy cooking and have the time to do so."

While the older generations are the core consumer of small kitchen appliances, making up nearly three-quarters of this category's sales, Millennials were the only generational segment with a sales increase compared with the prior year. 

“Boomers are the generation with more disposable income and a desire to splurge or trade-up for more premium products, but the sheer size of the Millennial generation, and their fundamental need for the essentials is what is moving the needle in many home-related categories," said Debra Mednick, executive director and home industry analyst for NPD.

The NPD Group, Port Washington, N.Y., provides global information and advisory services for a variety of sectors, including automotive, beauty, consumer electronics, entertainment, fashion, food / foodservice, home, luxury, mobile, office supplies, sports, technology, toys and video games.