Why Americans are suddenly cooking at home again
Why it matters: The trend reported Monday by Campbell's — whose brands include its eponymous soup, Prego sauce and Snyder's pretzels — comes as restaurant chains like McDonald's have already flagged softness in spending from low- and middle-income consumers.
Driving the news:"Consumers are cooking at home at the highest levels since early 2020 and turning to our brands for value, quality, and convenience," Campbell's CEO Mick Beekhuizen said in a statement.
And home meal preparers are also "favoring ingredients that help stretch tighter food budgets," he added on the company's earnings call.
For Campbell's, the trend manifested itself in an unspecified increase in soup sales and an 5% decrease in organic sales of snacks.
What they're saying: "Consumers remain under significant financial pressure and given the price of eating out has gone up by so much it is not surprising many households are cutting back," GlobalData analyst Neil Saunders tells Axios in an email.
"Eating at home may not be as much fun, but it is more cost effective – even compared to fast food which, for a family, has become very expensive.
The impact: The number of low-income consumers visiting U.S. fast-food restaurants was down "nearly double digits" in the year's first three months compared to 2024, McDonald's CEO Christopher Kempczinski said recently.
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