Waitrose recently surveyed 2000 adults living in the UK about their shopping habits since lockdown started. The results indicate we’re baking more, wasting less food and enjoying the odd cocktail. 

Have you noticed a lack of flour in stores? It’s probably due to the fact that 51% surveyed said they’ve been baking more whilst at home – banana bread seems to have been a favourite. 

People are being more careful with their food items and appear to be eating differently. We’re planning meals better, and as many as 50% are using store cupboard ingredients rather than buying more, which is leading to less food wastage. 

Doubtless, many of us can relate to the fact that over a third of those surveyed are snacking more – that fridge just keeps calling! 

Being at home has inspired people, with 36% of those questioned now cooking meals from scratch. It seems we’re experimenting with different food and using more exotic flavours. Waitrose reported a spike in searches for Thai and Japanese dishes on their website, and good old comfort food recipe searches were up by 44%. 

Alcohol sales have increased, particularly tequila which has seen sales climb by 175%. There’s also been an upturn in demand for rum, gin and liqueurs, suggesting we’re enjoying a few more cocktails than usual – maybe whilst socialising on those many evening Zoom quizzes. The overall result shows that although 25% of adults are drinking more, 21% are drinking less. 

The Waitrose survey also indicated that the ‘weekly shop’ may becoming fashionable again, rather than the ‘top-up’ shop that many of us did prior to lockdown.