Consumers prioritise buying prebaked goods over scratch baking

As consumers prioritised the affordability and convenience of purchasing prebaked foods over creating their own from scratch, less people were donning aprons and baking at home in 2024.

However, this trend has not impacted sales of baking essentials like block butter and flour, due to the versatility of these products in different types of cooking.

According to Hannah McLoughlin, trainee analyst, AHDB, consumer confidence continued to improve, meaning that, for some, finances were less of a consideration, and as a result there was an increase in eating out occasions.

AHDB observed that convenience is a current priority for many consumers, with cooking behaviours shifting to demonstrate this. Prep time for the average evening meal has reduced to 31 minutes, showing that people are wanting to spend less time cooking and have less time available for cooking (Kantar usage 52 w/e 1 September 2024).

“We can see that the need for convenience and the time pressures on consumers to prepare meals have impacted the home baking market,” noted McLoughlin.

Home baking is in decline for both savoury and sweet baking. The decline comes from fewer people baking and those that are still baking doing it less frequently. However, those who are sweet baking are doing so more frequently than those savoury baking (Kantar usage 52 w/e 1 September 2024).

Within AHDB’s YouGov Pulse research, consumers who haven’t baked in the last six months stated it is easier and quicker to buy ready-made baked goods, and they do not have the time to bake. This shows people like the convenience and value of shop-bought baked goods (AHDB/YouGov January 2025).

“Despite the overall decline, certain sweet bakes have seen growth,” McLoughlin reported. “These include bread and butter pudding, flapjacks, brownies and sweet pies (Kantar usage 52 w/e 1 September 2024). Chocolate cake and lemon drizzle were reportedly the favourite cakes that people like to eat, closely followed by Victoria sponge and carrot/pumpkin cake.” (AHDB/YouGov January 2025)

There is a slow decline in total dairy consumption occasions, despite there being an increase in the number of people consuming dairy. The total decline is driven by a reduction in frequency of consumption (Kantar usage 52 w/e 1 September 2024).

Health concerns are the top reason for why people are considering reducing their dairy intake. This is followed by animal welfare concerns (AHDB/YouGov November 2024).

Flour spend was £33.7m, which has increased by 7% since the previous period (Kantar 12 w/e 29 December 24). However, consumption occasions of flour has decreased by 11% since 2023 (Kantar usage 52 w/e 1 September 2024).

When asked “Which ingredients do you usually bake with?”, the majority of people said a type of flour such as plain or self-raising. The 45+ age category are more likely to use flour than the younger generation (under 34 age category) as they more frequently use bread or cake mixes when baking (AHDB/YouGov January 2025).

Lunch time and evening meals are the most popular times to eat products made with flour, but in the last five years breakfast has been increasing due the popularity of pancakes and crepes (Kantar usage 52 w/e 1 September 2024).

Related content