Richard J. George, Ph.D.

Mothers Rely on Limited Number of Recipes for the Family

November 23, 2009

FROM RETAILWIRE:
With more mothers working outside the home than ever before in both the U.S. and the U.K., it's no wonder a recent survey claims that the "average" mother primarily relies on just nine different meals to feed her family. Do you think American mothers have more or fewer than nine recipes that they repeat regularly?      [more...]

I would be surprised if the US number differed significantly. The key is not so much the number of meals. Rather the source, ease of preparation, and ability to make minor modifications to these meals to create the impression that the nine meals represent a month's worth of interesting meals would appear to be very meaningful to the time-starved consumer.

While we like balance in our lives, we also like a bit of tension, i.e., something new and different. This is why we try new restaurants, new retail formats, etc. The "tension" of meals at home could be created by offering variations to these preferred meals. This is something that food retailers could and should be doing. If done properly, we can change the perception from meal assembly--so automobile manufacturing oriented--to convenient meal involvement. In the latter case, food retailers can partner with harried consumers to prepare nutritious, tasty meals that communicate love and affection to the family--a new twist on mom's meatloaf, that leaves the family clamoring for more varieties of mom's stable of popular recipes.