Despite people spending more time at home than ever before, new research from Sainsbury’s reveals that just 28% of households are sharing the same meal in the evening, with an even lower 12% sharing breakfast.
The poll of 2,000 UK respondents found that a busy schedule is the most common reason families don’t dine together, with 55% of the population admitting to struggling to find the time. Nearly one in five (19%) Brits aged 25-34 said they often eat a totally different meal to the rest of the family due to working late. Almost a quarter (23%) of parents in this age group even admitted that their children eat meals in front of the TV or games console.
Nearly a third of families cited fussy eating as a top reason they don’t eat the same meal, with 31% of parents aged 25-34 claiming mealtimes are made tricky by picky children who simply refuse to eat certain foods. A further one in five (20%) say they regularly cook their kids something entirely different in order to avoid frowning faces. However, it’s not just children who are the fussy eaters, with a third of Brits having to serve up multiple dishes for picky parents or friends in their household.
In fact, the results showed that almost one in four (24%) households are cooking around four extra meals every week in order to please picky eaters, with one in ten 35-44 year olds having to cook up multiple dishes almost every evening – equating to an extra £37 per month.
Differing diets were found to be another big barrier for families at meal times. When it comes to pleasing both meat-eaters and vegetarians in the family, 36% of people say they regularly buy both meat and their plant-based equivalents, considerably increasing the overall food shop spend. In fact, households are spending an extra £9 every week buying foods that suit both diets.
Rather than cooking different dishes and spending more in the process, Sainsbury’s has teamed up with award-winning family recipe author Emily Leary to help families look after the pennies. By finding creative ways to cook the same meal for all the family to enjoy, Sainsbury’s predicts that families can save over £450 every year.
Rhian Bartlett, Food Commercial Director for Sainsbury’s said, “We want to make mealtimes an occasion again, shrinking the gap between adult and children’s tastes by widening the palate of Britain’s picky eaters.
'Eating together not only encourages quality time with family, but it can also save customers a significant amount of money too!
'We hope that offering fun and simple solutions to the most common barriers to families not tucking into the same meal together will drive even better value for our customers across our range, helping them to live well for less”.