Forget Baseball, Baking is Now Becoming America’s Favorite Pastime

Grocery List Data Tells Us How Consumers Are Redirecting Their Time During the Current Pandemic

Sports are canceled, large gatherings are canceled, social activity is a no go. So what is the general population doing to fill their down time?

AdAdapted examined the list data of millions of consumers to see if we could unearth some clues. It turns out that baking is actually becoming one of the leading time fillers during the #covid-19 pandemic.

By now, we all know consumers have significantly changed the way they shop, plan to shop, navigate the store, and restock their pantry. By examining the grocery list activity of millions of shoppers over the past two weeks, AdAdapted can better understand these new habits. Here’s what we know:

Consumers are going back to basics and baking more than before.

Insight #1:

Shoppers are cooking and baking more than ever before. This graph highlights that 5 of the top 10 products experiencing the highest % growth are baking-related items.

Furthermore, we are seeing huge spikes with products like flour and yeast. Can’t find bread at the grocery store? Hey, let’s just bake it ourselves. Here’s one article from www.wired.com that dives even deeper into the Stay-at-home Bread Boom.

Insight #2:

Shoppers are going back to basics. We’re seeing increases in traditional ingredients vs alternative or health-focused products. For example, see how the growth trend for Coconut Flour compares to the more traditional Bread Flour.  

Insight #3:

Being stuck inside is no fun. But making cakes and brownies is a great way to bring smiles and giggles to little faces that can’t head to the playground. Or, to help grownups relax and blow off some steam.

We see our shoppers are still making time for treats. See spikes in cake and brownie ingredients below.

So, lookout baseball. It may not be anything permanent, but consumers are prioritizing the joy of baking over other activities during this challenging time. Even though the entire country and beyond has pressed pause on life as we know it, we can still enjoy the lighter moments and fill our homes with delicious baked goods.

AdAdapted hopes all our readers are staying safe and healthy out there.

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