For many, the kitchen is the heart of the home, a space to share meals and catch up with loved ones. While the living room will see more planned events around media or other entertainment, the kitchen is likely to remain the home’s epicenter for activity.
Essential workers may see few changes in how they use their kitchens — except in cases where they feel they have even less time for meal preparation than before. But people who are working from home may find a little more time for cooking and even forsit-down meals throughout the weekday. The transition from breakfast to checking emails will be seamless, as our laptops will be right where we left them: on the kitchen counter. Here are some trends and predictions so far.
Kitchen islands and bars as workstations
Sales of packaged coffee are
up 70%
Breakfast doesn’t have to be done on the move
While we aren’t likely to hoard as much as in the early days of COVID, don’t expect near-daily trips to the grocery store either. Those who can afford to upgrade their appliances and stock up on food are likely to do so, and they’ll be more careful about maintaining that stock than ever before. The downside when you’re working from home is that it’s easy to break into that stockpile for a mid-day treat.
Smart
pantries and refrigerators track inventories
Sales of cookie variety packs increased by 20%
Whether we’re cooking it ourselves or making a quick run down to our favorite restaurants, we’ll be eating meals in the home with much more frequency. Restaurants will not only be competing with each other for our business, but with the grocery stores as well, as we keep a closer watch on our safety and our wallets.
