Dive Summary:
- Research conducted by firms ranging from General Mills and ConAgra to The Mom Complex pinpoints Monday through Thursday, and Wednesday in particular, around 4 p.m. as the highest meal planning stress periods, and these convenience meals are meant to alleviate that stress while still feeling "home-cooked."
- With easy-to-prepare meals that contain subtle cues that signal cooking, packaged-food companies and grocery stores targeting homes where men and women like to cook, but often feel too crunched for time to do so.
- Kraft's new Recipe Makers was developed over the course of 18 months utilizing test results that show moms felt more like they had prepared a home-cooked meal when the product contained two sauces, while Bumble Bee's SuperFresh frozen seafood makes consumers feel "more involved" with the extra step of placing fish in an included parchment paper pouch for steam-cooking.
From the article:
... On weekends, Ms. MacMillan serves dishes such as scallops breaded in panko and wrapped in bacon. On Sundays, she sometimes cooks ground beef for pasta sauce and tacos during the week. But by Wednesday, meal planning often "goes sideways," she says. Out comes the microwavable Bob Evans Macaroni and Cheese and frozen peas, a meal that takes minutes to prepare and that her kids love. ...
