Newly Minted Home Chefs Mark Another Blow to U.S. Restaurants

(Bloomberg) -- Here’s more bad news for restaurants: Many Americans who cooked more at home during the pandemic aren’t planning to stop.

Nearly a third of U.S. adults said they plan to cook at home even more than they do now once stay-at-home recommendations have lifted, a blow to an already limping food-service industry that had hoped consumers would return in droves. Only 7% plan to cook less once the economy fully reopens.

Younger people in particular see themselves spending more time in the kitchen post-Covid, according to a survey of 2,200 Americans conducted by Bloomberg News and Morning Consult. A full 43% of Gen Z respondents, or those born in 1997 or later, said they planned to cook at home more after the virus versus just 9% who said they’d cook less. The remainder said their eating habits would be little changed or had no opinion.

The trend points to a sobering reality for restaurants, and a potential windfall for packaged-food manufacturers, with the pandemic threatening to permanently alter the way we eat. Capacity restrictions were already a burden on restaurants creeping toward reopening, many of which now face a second round of closures as virus hot spots resurface around the country. One in ten eateries may may never recover.

In an earnings call last week, packaged-foods manufacturer General Mills Inc. said the speed that diners return to restaurants will be the largest factor impacting its performance this year. The company has seen a resurgence of its homiest brands, like Betty Crocker, as cooks new and old spend more time in the kitchen.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.