A new consumer poll from KAM Media suggests that the growing ‘hospitality at home’ trend is set to stay, even when venues re-open. The poll, carried out last week, shows that awareness of the growing number of ‘hospitality at home’ options is strong amongst consumers; 63% of UK adults have now heard of a ‘cook at home’ meal kit for example.
And a significant proportion of additional consumers are open to trying these options in the future; 24% say they’d be open to buying a ‘meal kit’ in the future.
Katy Moses, MD, KAM Media: “It’s positive news that awareness of what’s on offer is high- where 64% of those we spoke to are aware of subscription recipe boxes like Gousto and Mindful chef. 63% know about cook at home meal kits and 54% finish at home options from hospitality operators. The former have been ‘a thing’ for much longer so the latter two stats are encouraging.”
Add that to 50% being aware of ‘mix at home’ cocktail kits and 45% knowing about mini keg home deliveries, and Moses suggests idea of hospitality being bought into our homes can be described as “having hit the mainstream.”
The research suggests that consumers have not only participated in these ‘at home’ experiences, but intend to do so in the future-
- 40% have either bought or would consider buying a cook at home meal kit
- 44% have bought or would consider a finish at home meal kit
- 38% for cocktails at home
- 35% for mini kegs from a pub
Moses comments: “We’ve been asked frequently by our clients whether we think that the ‘hospitality at home’ trend is here to stay. I think these figures clearly show it is. Food delivery has certainly changed forever and is fast entering a new phase, moving from purely functional “feed me now” to experiential. We know that customers are desperate to be back in our physical outlets, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t still want a piece of our wonderful hospitality industry in their homes- there’s room for both offerings to co-exist and smart operators and suppliers are busy right now planning for just that.”
“The benefits of getting your brand into a consumers home, especially when they can’t come to you, is clear. Embracing delivery and other hospitality at home options is a fantastic way to grow your brands reach (including geographically) as well as keeping previous customer engaged with your brand while you’re closed. The fact that demand is likely to continue, for those who are getting it right, is really promising for the sector.”
