The Inflation Diet: 59.5% of Americans admit to struggling to afford to buy food

• Just 14.5% of people say they don’t like cooking, with recipe websites and social media killing off the trusty cookbook
• Meanwhile, the Age of the Air Fryer is here, with 58% of consumers having the appliance in their home

Food inflation has severely impacted Americans' ability to pay for their groceries, according to a new research report released today. 

Attest, a leading consumer research platform finds that a majority of consumers - 59.5% - say they have trouble affording the food they want to eat. 

Its 2023 Facing Up to Food Insecurity report surveyed 2,000 nationally representative US consumers revealing:

• Consumers prefer a weekly grocery shop, with most shopping around: The research finds that most Americans shop for groceries once a week (at 40%), followed by 2-3 times a week (29%). Shoppers are also most likely (at 67%) to go to 2-3 different stores for their groceries, with just 27% staying loyal to one supermarket. 
• Over a third never shop in an independent: 34% of consumers say they never shop at independent food stores or farmers’ markets. Yet on the flip side, 40% of shoppers will “regularly” go to a farmers’ market to purchase food and drink items. 

Let them cook! Americans not only want to but also have the time to prepare meals

According to Attest’s research, the misconception that we simply don’t want to cook isn’t reality. Regardless of age or income, 8 in 10 (85.5%) Americans are keen to get cooking in the kitchen. Of this 85.5%, 43% admit they “love” cooking with just 14.5% saying they don’t like to cook. 

In fact, over a third of consumers (34%) say they eat their own food that is cooked from scratch most days a week, followed by 30% who do the same for 3-5 days a week. 

Another assumption tackled within this research is that time-poor consumers simply don’t have the minutes to spare to cook either. Only 23% of Americans believe they have little to no time to prepare meals, yet over three-quarters (76%) feel they have plenty of time to cook at home.  

Further findings include:

• Cookbooks are virtually dead: Just 11% of Americans use a cookbook for meal inspiration. Recipe websites and apps (36%), followed by social media (28%) are the top two ways consumers get creative in the kitchen for mealtime, while friends and family still play a key role also (21%). 
• Ever-shrinking living spaces may be affecting the appliances consumers own: Attest’s data finds that over a quarter of Americans do not have a toaster (at 25%), full-size oven (at 26%) or freezer (27%) in their homes. The microwave remains the most common appliance in American households (at 85%), but 58% say they also have an air fryer, pointing to its increasing popularity amongst consumers. 
• One in ten eats out most days of the week restaurants are an occasional treat: Most consumers (39%) will eat at a restaurant 1-3 times a month, or less frequently than monthly (22.8%). By contrast, a small number of Americans can afford to eat out over 3-7 days a week (at 13%), followed by 24% who will dine out once or twice a week on average. 
• Takeout food is enjoyed more frequently: 31% of consumers get takeout food 1-2 times a week, followed by 22% who treat themselves a few times a month. Meanwhile, 16% will have takeout over 3-7 days a week. When it comes to how consumers make an order, the most popular method is in-person at a restaurant (32%), followed by a delivery app and a restaurant’s website (both at 23%). 

Jeremy King, CEO and Founder of Attest, said of the research: “Food prices remain stubbornly high, and our latest data shows nearly 59.5% of Americans are currently experiencing some level of difficulty affording food. It’s a stark statistic, which means F&B brands and retailers must continue to adapt to real consumer needs imposed by macroeconomic conditions. It’s likely that the outlook will remain challenging for months to come, with the certainty that F&B consumption is in a state of transition and the possibility that some of these new consumer behaviors will become permanent. As ever, understanding what’s happening in the minds of consumers is the key to understanding how to win in a rapidly evolving market.”