Teens Desire Home-Cooked Meals

Bucking the stereotype that they would live off a regular diet of fast food if they could, teenagers actually shared that they want more home-cooked meals, new research from ecommerce grocer Peapod shows.

The annual meal-planning predictions, which show Millennials and families together driving growth in home cooking in the new year, already display all Americans' growing desire to bond in the kitchen and at the dinner table: Some 43 percent of them report that cooking at home helps them spend quality time together as a family, up 11 points from last year. But four in five (79 percent) teens want their parents to cook more this year. Additionally, six in 10 (59 percent) said that they have fun cooking, and roughly the same (55 percent) see meal time as a way to spend time bonding as a family.

“Moreover, they actually want to be involved in the cooking process, which creates even more opportunity for family bonding,” said Carrie Bienkowski, chief marketing officer of Peapod, a subsidiary of Carlisle, Pa.-based Ahold Delhaize USA. What's more, three in 10 (32 percent) teens who want to help their parents cook express a desire to help their family eat more healthful meals.

Adding that customers want to cook at home and spend more time with their families, Bienkowski told Progressive Grocer that this isn't always possible due to everyday challenges, so shortcuts such as ready-to-cook meal kits and pre-cut produce can help simplify the cooking process while also making preparation easier for younger members of the household, who may be more likely to lack cooking experience, to join in.

“That’s why we have a wide selection of affordable meal kits – many are less than $5 per serving, which is significantly lower than other meal-kit providers – available on Peapod.com, and shoppable recipes on FromthePod.com, where customers can fill their grocery cart with all of the ingredients needed for a delicious recipe in just one click,” she said.