Meal kit sales set to soar for Valentine’s Day

By Liz Wells in Industry News 8th February 2021

Demand for meal kits, which enable consumers to create restaurant-quality dinners at home, is set to soar this Valentine’s Day, new research reveals.

GlobalData’s latest Covid-19 Recovery Tracker reveals that 24% of UK consumers expect to buy more meals as takeaways from restaurants than before the pandemic.

Ryan Whittaker, consumer analyst at GlobalData, said: “Throughout 2020, we saw a significant shift towards people recreating out-of-home experiences within the home. Several people made bars in their gardens in the summer, Diageo reported a boost to its spirits sales as people made cocktails at home, and the end of 2020 saw demand for full Christmas meal kits skyrocket.

“As UK consumers in 2021 are still unable to visit their favorite restaurants, we expect many will buy the next best thing – Valentine’s meal kits to recreate at home.”

In addition, GlobalData also expects there to be increased demand for cocktail ingredients, gin, Baileys, and ready-to-drink (RTD) beverages.

Whittaker adds: “Many of the RTD and pre-mixed alcoholic cocktail brands, as well as home delivery from local bars, facilitate experiences in the home, providing convenient emulations of the going-out experience and moments of excitement and indulgence.