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* {{Cite news |title=Why and how to bake your way through the lockdown |url=https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2020/05/05/why-and-how-to-bake-your-way-through-the-lockdown?utm_medium=cpc.adword.pd&utm_source=google&ppccampaignID=17210591673&ppcadID=&utm_campaign=a.22brand_pmax&utm_content=conversion.direct-response.anonymous&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAibeuBhAAEiwAiXBoJDsoof-efSZwOX56C6xUqBdDTtTyKLg1bTg4q5_Tc7bu8vWySKUOdBoCWMgQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds |access-date=2024-02-16 |work=[[The Economist]] |issn=0013-0613}}
* {{Cite news |title=Why and how to bake your way through the lockdown |url=https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2020/05/05/why-and-how-to-bake-your-way-through-the-lockdown?utm_medium=cpc.adword.pd&utm_source=google&ppccampaignID=17210591673&ppcadID=&utm_campaign=a.22brand_pmax&utm_content=conversion.direct-response.anonymous&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAibeuBhAAEiwAiXBoJDsoof-efSZwOX56C6xUqBdDTtTyKLg1bTg4q5_Tc7bu8vWySKUOdBoCWMgQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds |access-date=2024-02-16 |work=[[The Economist]] |issn=0013-0613}}
*{{Cite journal |last=Güler |first=Ozan |last2=Haseki |first2=Murat İsmet |date=2021-03-18 |title=Positive Psychological Impacts of Cooking During the COVID-19 Lockdown Period: A Qualitative Study |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8012501/ |journal=Frontiers in Psychology |volume=12 |pages=635957 |doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2021.635957 |issn=1664-1078 |pmc=8012501 |pmid=33815223}}


{{#invoke:COVID-19 pandemic|}}
{{#invoke:COVID-19 pandemic|}}

Revision as of 22:01, 17 February 2024

During the COVID-19 lockdowns, home baking experienced an explosion of interest, which was termed pandemic baking, lockdown baking, or quarantine baking. The increase in home baking sparked by the pandemic outlived it, resulting in an overall increase in interest in home baking.

Background

Baking-aisle sales had been flat since 2016.[1] The COVID-19 pandemic forced many workers into working remotely or being unable to work at all; in both cases, people who had previously spent many hours a day away from home were home full time.

Many newly-homebound workers developed hobbies during the pandemic that they hadn't previously had time to pursue. Baking was one of the most popular.[2] Bread and Viennoiserie in particular are types of baking that require the baker to be available at multiple points -- the timing of which are not always easy to predict -- during a baking process that might be hours to days long.

Baking has also been associated with stress relief.[3][4][5]

Causes

The interest in bread making was associated with newly-homebound workers developing hobbies they hadn't previously had the time at home to pursue, such as bread baking. It also was associated with retail bakery closings due to the pandemic, which meant those bakeries' customers couldn't access the baked goods they previously had regularly consumed.[6] In much of the world breadbaking became symbolic of resilience in the response to the lockdowns.[7]

According to Emily St. James, "bread baking is a thing we do in a crisis".[8] Before the pandemic, US company King Arthur Baking was in the process of rebranding; the company's rebranding studies had found that many of their customers engaged in stress baking: baking at home to bring joy to themselves and others during stressful times.[3][4]

Baking in tandem or in classes via video chat was also a method people used for social interaction, either with current family and friends or as a way to develop connection during a period of social isolation, as was admiring others' completed bakes posted on social media.[8][9][10][11]

Some bakers recreated nostalgic favorites from the past; in India school cake experienced a resurgence in popularity.[10] Juliana Young, writing in Digest: A Journal of Foodways and Culture, agreed that nostalgia, and a desire for tradition during a time when many traditions were unavailable.[9] The BBC argued that cooking and baking, even for oneself, can invoke feelings of shared experience and social interaction because food is often shared.[12] Kneading has long been noted as a calming and meditative activity.[5]

Popularity

In Britain over half of those surveyed agreed (39%) or strongly agreed (15%) that they'd "started baking again due to more free time during lockdown".[11] In the US, 31% of consumers reported having baked at least once a week and another 24% reported having baked once or twice a month in 2022.[13]

Popular items

Cakes, cookies and pastas were popular items, but breads were the items most focussed on.[5]

Banana bread was a popular bake in the UK and India.[11] Sourdough bread was popular in the US; in the UK it was popular among Millennials.[14][11]

Short term consequences

Books on breadmaking experienced spikes in sales.[8] Calls to King Arthur's Baker's Hotline advice line spiked, requiring the company to increase the size of that team.[6]

Some areas experienced shortages of flour and yeast[8][15][5] that began with the first lockdowns and lasted for months. Sales of flour, yeast, and many other baking supplies in the US doubled or tripled in the first months of the pandemic.[16] Unlike the COVID-19 shortages caused by hoarding, such as toilet paper and hand sanitizer, people were actually buying flour, using it, and wanting to buy more.[6] In the case of King Arthur Flour, the inability to meet demand wasn't due to a shortage of wheat or milling capacity but to bagging capacity for 5-pound bags of flour.[6]

Because of the yeast shortages, many bread bakers experimented with sourdough.[17]

Longer effects

Some sources indicate that pandemic baking turned into a long-term higher interest in home baking.[18] According to Food Innovation Quarterly, pandemic baking "revived the practice of baking homemade bread in France and Italy".[19] According to Freedonia Group, "home baking activity remains more popular [in 2023] compared to 2019".[20]

According to Supermarket News, in the US there was "a lingering interest in the activity, which...is helping buoy retail sales of baking ingredients".[2] The trade magazine in 2023 predicted ongoing increases in sales of home baking supplies through at least 2027 due to "more consumers taking up home baking as an activity in the longer term after initially baking more during the pandemic".[2] In October of 2023 it reported interest in sourdough baking classes had remained high.

According to Markus Haberfellner of the Upper Austrian Haberfellner Mill, consumer demand for flour had returned to pre-pandemic levels, but "what has remained is that those people have seen how much effort goes into baking bread. So, they appreciate the professional group of bakers and are returning to them".[21]

According to the Utah Farm Bureau, interest in sourdough baking continued to increase after the end of the pandemic.[14]

According to Baking Business, after the sharp increase in sales of home baking supplies in 2020, there was a slight decline in 2021 but another increase in 2022.[22]

Some commercial bakeries, some of whom had previously considered home baking as a threat to their business, rolled out home baking kits to draw sales from people who remained interested in home baking after the pandemic had ended.[13] Baking supply companies also rolled out new kits and recipes to encourage pandemic bakers to maintain the habit after the lockdowns ended.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Byron, Ellen. "Is Baking's Pandemic Popularity Just a Flash in the Pan?". WSJ. Retrieved 2024-02-17.
  2. ^ a b c Hamstra, Mark (2023-10-03). "Retailers still see positive effect from baking at home". Supermarket News. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  3. ^ a b Zorrilla, Mónica Marie (6 October 2020). "King Arthur's First Campaign Since Its Rebrand Showcases the Joys of Baking Together". AdWeek. Archived from the original on November 20, 2020. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  4. ^ a b Zorrilla, Mónica Marie (22 July 2020). "King Arthur Rebrands to Show It's About More Than Flour". AdWeek. Archived from the original on November 26, 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-26.
  5. ^ a b c d Gammon, Katharine (2020-04-19). "Kneading to relax? How coronavirus prompted a surge in stress baking". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-02-17.
  6. ^ a b c d Pasanen, Melissa. "How the Pandemic Propelled King Arthur Flour Into the National Spotlight". Seven Days. Archived from the original on December 16, 2023. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
  7. ^ "The Baking Fervour: How COVID Transformed Bread Consumers into Bakers". Food Innovation Quarterly. 2022-10-10. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  8. ^ a b c d St James, Emily (2020-05-19). "How to bake bread". Vox. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  9. ^ a b Young, Juliana (2021-11-30). "A Return to Tradition: The Significance of Baking During COVID-19: pp. 27-42". Digest: A Journal of Foodways and Culture. 8 (1/2). ISSN 2329-4787.
  10. ^ a b "8 Pandemic recipes that are still a staple". Times of India. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  11. ^ a b c d "Pandemic bake-offs, banana bread fever and social recipes: 10 charts explaining UK attitudes to home baking". The Grocer. 11 May 2021. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  12. ^ Brasted, Chelsea (2 February 2021). "Why cooking and baking fill a void". BBC. Retrieved 2024-02-17.
  13. ^ a b Unrein, John (9 February 2024). "The home baking phenomenon". Bake Magazine. Retrieved 2024-02-17.
  14. ^ a b Corey-Disch, Adelaide (7 January 2024). "Jump on the sourdough baking craze!". Utah Farm Bureau Federation.
  15. ^ "Home baking is on the rise, thanks to coronavirus lockdowns". The Economist. 8 April 2020. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2024-02-17.
  16. ^ Collings, Richard (21 April 2020). "King Arthur's Flour Sales Rise More Than 2,000% in March". AdWeek. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  17. ^ Meyer, Ashley (25 January 2024). "Sourdough baking an ancient process". Illinois Times. Retrieved 2024-02-17.
  18. ^ Hamstra, Mark (2023-10-03). "Retailers still see positive effect from baking at home". Supermarket News. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  19. ^ Antoniotti, Saba; Oppici, Laura (2022-10-10). "The Baking Fervour: How COVID Transformed Bread Consumers into Bakers - Food Innovation Quarterly". Food Innovation Quarterly. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  20. ^ Rasch, Cara (28 February 2023). "Key Home Baking Trends for 2023". Freedonia Group.
  21. ^ "Why Bakery Has a Future". Backaldrin. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  22. ^ Sosland, Zachary (9 March 2023). "Home baking product sales increase in 2022 | Baking Business". Baking Business. Retrieved 2024-02-16.

Further reading

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pandemic_baking&oldid=1208528477"