ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Wegmans Food Markets here polled 1,000 shoppers and learned there's been a 24% drop in reliance on take out meals and a 45% decline in meals eaten at restaurants.
Instead of turning to options prepared outside the home, 30% are preparing more dinners at home from scratch, while 33% are using some partly prepared foods, like cleaned and chopped vegetables, to create a meal.
"Customers are telling us two things when they mention the effort it takes to stay within the family food budget," said Jo Natale, Wegmans director of media relations in a statement. "They want our help in keeping food affordable, but they're also saying they'd like to know what a meal will cost—without using a calculator as they plan menus or shop."
Wegmans added cost-per-serving information for all recipes in this season's Wegmans Menu magazine as a result. Half cost less than $3 per serving.
Shoppers also want to serve foods that promote health and wellness. When asked about the toughest challenges to getting dinner ready "serving healthy meals" was among the top five responses.
Wegmans applied the findings to its recipe creation process. It's incorporated recipes that require 30 minutes of prep and use a slow-cooker to make less expensive cuts of meat more tender. Wegmans has also added partially prepared items, as well as one or more cups of fruits or vegetables per serving, to its Wegmans Menu recipes.
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