Increased Demand for Home-Cooked Meals Due to COVID-19... 2030 Singles Sitting at the Table

Happycall, Survey Results from 1,000 Kitchenware Users
This Year's Most Purchased Kitchenware is 'Frying Pan', and Kitchen Appliance is 'Air Fryer'

Happycall announced the results of the "Survey on the Usage Status and Perception of Kitchen Products," conducted in September through the research company Open Survey, targeting 1,000 kitchenware users in their 20s to 50s, on the 27th. Photo by Happycall

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] It has been revealed that the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) has drawn the younger generation in their 20s and 30s to home-cooked meals at the dining table and cooking in the kitchen.

Happycall announced on the 27th that this was the result of a "Survey on the Usage Status and Perception of Kitchen Products" conducted in September through the research company Open Survey, targeting 1,000 kitchenware users in their 20s to 50s.

According to the survey, 14.2% of respondents ate home-cooked meals for all three meals, an increase of 3.5% compared to last year. By life cycle, the proportion of those eating home-cooked meals three times a day increased in households living with preschool and elementary school children, households with teenage children, households with adult children, and middle-aged parent households not living with children.

In the case of "unmarried households in their 20s and 30s," the proportion eating home-cooked meals once or twice a day was the highest at 39.1%. While other life cycle groups had the highest proportion eating once or twice a day in the 2019 survey, only the "unmarried households in their 20s and 30s" recorded the highest proportion of eating alone 4-5 times a week at 28.6%. Compared to last year’s results when there was no threat of COVID-19, the increase in the frequency of home-cooked meals among "unmarried households in their 20s and 30s" this year is remarkable.

Participation in cooking among people in their 20s also increased. The proportion of people in their 20s who responded that they cook 100% of the time when eating home-cooked meals rose by 6.8% from the previous year to 33.8%.

Due to restrictions on attending school, remote lectures, and working from home, people have been eating and cooking at home more frequently, leading to a significant increase in consumer purchases of new kitchen products. This year, the purchase rates for kitchenware were 67.5% for frying pans, 58.2% for storage containers, 55.1% for cooking utensils, 50.4% for pots, 34.7% for knives, and 12.4% for double-sided pans. The purchase rates for kitchen appliances this year were 36.5% for air fryers, 19.6% for electric kettles, 15.4% for small mixers, 10.8% for toasters, 9.9% for small electric rice cookers, 9.1% for hand blenders, and 8.1% for waffle and sandwich makers.

The criteria for purchasing kitchenware were good quality (44.1%), durability (36.7%), and cost-effectiveness (27.7%), while the criteria for purchasing kitchen appliances were good quality (34.8%), good design (27.2%), and cost-effectiveness (26.3%). It was analyzed that cost-effectiveness is a more important purchasing factor for kitchenware, whereas design is more important for kitchen appliances.

Additionally, quality, familiarity with the product, and recommendations from acquaintances were reasons for choosing recently purchased kitchenware brands. For the item "because of good quality," Whistler (60%), Tefal (56.9%), and Happycall (55.2%) received many responses. For "because it was a product previously used," Tefal (48.2%), Happycall (37.3%), and Kitchen Art (30.6%) ranked high. For "because it was highly recommended by people around me," Whistler (60%) was followed by Happycall (25.4%).

A Happycall official said, "Considering the increasing frequency of cooking and demand for cost-effective products amid the COVID-19 situation, we will continue to introduce products that meet consumers' needs. In particular, through this survey, we confirmed that the induction stove penetration rate reaches 19.6%, and we plan to focus on product development to become the leading brand of induction stove-exclusive kitchenware."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.