Despite Endless Enticing Options, Americans Crave Convenience & Traditional Favorites When Cooking At Home, New Study Shows.

Business Editors/Cooking & Lifestyle Writers

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GLENVIEW, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 18, 2001

Despite endless culinary options and flavors from around the globe, Americans consistently return to comforting, easy family-pleasing favorites when preparing meals at home, a new study suggests.

The recently released Kraft Kitchens Study, identifying the most universally prevalent ingredients and appliances found in America's kitchens today, demonstrates the level to which we are opting for convenience and blazing shortcuts to the final dish. This latest study suggests that core cooking staples including butter, sugar, flour, milk, and the usage rate of common kitchen appliances such as mixers and blenders, are being swapped in record numbers for ready-made favorites and easy meal solutions such as pizza, pasta and frozen dinners.

Conducted every five years since 1980, and analyzing more than 1,700 households nationwide, the study allows Kraft to benchmark key items throughout the decades and understand how and why they have changed over the years. According to the study, the following significant cooking and baking trends are shaping America's kitchens today:

- Viva Italia! More American households routinely stock spaghetti or vermicelli
in their kitchens (72 percent) than common cooking items such as butter (44
percent) or milk (55 percent). Americans are also saying "buon giorno" to
prepared pasta in record numbers. In fact, nearly half of households surveyed
are stocking this tried-and-true convenience item today, an increase of 66
percent from 1995. Spaghetti sauce and canned tomato sauce continue to gain
popularity and are found in nearly 70 percent of our kitchens.

- PB & J will never go away. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches boast staying
power through the generations. Eighty-three percent of households regularly
stock peanut butter, 56 percent routinely carry grape jelly or jam and 43
percent have strawberry jelly or jam. And what red, white and blue pantry would
be complete without the basic sliced white bread? This kitchen essential
remains steady in 53 percent of households.

- Say cheese! When it comes to comfort food, macaroni and cheese maintains its
status as a quick-and-easy national favorite. Fifty-five percent of America's
kitchens contain macaroni and cheese mix, an eight percent increase since 1995.
Fifty-five percent carry elbow macaroni and 65 percent routinely stock dry
packaged cheese mix.

- That takes the cake. Though the stocking of core baking ingredients and
appliances has dramatically decreased since 1995 levels, Americans still fancy
sweet treats. Results indicate that convenience is the key ingredient when it
comes to baking. The purchase of brown sugar has decreased 15 percent, sugar by
11 and baking powder by 14 percent since 1995. But chocolate cake mix is
commonly stocked in nearly 30 percent of homes, yellow cake mix in 26 percent
and brownie baking mixes in 26 percent.

- Gadget Gurus. Americans own multitudes of kitchen gadgets and appliances but
rarely use them. Among owners, the usage rate of mixers has decreased 37
percent in the last five years, blenders by 29 percent and toaster ovens by
eight percent. Though 26 percent of us own bread machines and 34 percent food
processors, the regular usage rate remains constant at four percent for each.

- Livin' La Vida Loca. The study grants Mexican food two thumbs up. Items with
a Mexican flair have garnered a 17-30 percent increase in our pantries since
1995. Nearly 30 percent of families keep dry taco mix on hand, a 17 percent
gain from the last study. Salsa is commonly stocked by 40 percent of
households, cheddar cheese shreds by 26 and tortillas by more than 20 percent.
By contrast, Asian cooking has experienced an ever-so-slight downward trend, as
evidenced by the 11 percent decline in soy sauce and 24 percent decline in
teriyaki sauce. White rice remains constant with 51 percent penetration.

- Some like it hot...but not as much as we used to! Hot pepper sauce has
dwindled in pantries consistently since 1991. Found in 61 percent of pantries a
decade ago, this spicy sauce appears in only 34 percent of homes today. Other
spicy toppings such as ground red pepper and chili sauce are seen in fewer than
20 percent of households.

"The Kraft Kitchens Study is an important information bank that enables Kraft to keep a pulse on America's plates. While items in our pantries may dramatically change from decade to decade, Kraft continues to be the ultimate mealtime resource with every growing generation," said Stephanie Williams, director of Kraft Kitchens.

The Kraft Kitchens study, along with ongoing research and consumer dialogues, serve as the foundation for the recently launched Kraft Connections program. A comprehensive service network of easily accessible mealtime tools and resources, Kraft Connections is designed to provide families with simple, delicious and inspiring mealtime ideas to make the most of time with family and friends. Consumers can find the various program elements through in-store programs, cookbooks, recipe brochures, as well as the Internet. Following are some of the most popular offerings:

- www.kraftfoods.com. Kraft's award-winning Web site provides

consumers with the most valuable features and time-saving

functions available via the Internet. Receiving about one million

hits each month, www.kraftfoods.com provides an electronic recipe

box of thousands of tempting food ideas, creative seasonal

recipes, and family party planning help, as well as tips to help

connect the family at mealtime. The Web site has recently been

redesigned with quicker, more personalized features and

value-added functions for optimal ease and efficiency. To provide

even more timely, convenient access to savory food ideas, a

limited version of www.kraftfoods.com is now available via a

first-of-its-kind meal solution application through the Palm VII

personal handheld device.

- Dinner On Hand. Kraft's resourceful Dinner on Hand program is

based on research that shows dinner decisions are typically made

the same day and are driven by availability of ingredients already

in the home. Recognizing that the toughest part about dinner is

simply deciding what to make, Dinner on Hand leverages the Kraft

Kitchens Study and key consumer insights to answer the daily

question, "What's for dinner?" Offering delicious meal solutions

using only a few items and ones typically found in the kitchen,

Dinner on Hand ideas can be found on the home-page of

www.kraftfoods.com where savory suggestions are offered in several

categories. Each recipe has been consumer tested for criteria such

as suitability for a hectic work-night, likelihood to prepare and

kid appeal. Free seasonal recipe leaflets, available in the meat

departments of grocery stores nationwide, also provide convenient

Dinner on Hand meal solutions. Consumers can look for the Dinner

on Hand "spinning plate" icon and recipes on various Kraft dinner

products for assurance that family-pleasing dinner ideas are only

a fingertip away.

- Kraft Connections Publications. Kraft offers a series of

publications featuring delicious recipes and food ideas to help

families spend less time cooking and more time connecting at

mealtime. The Food & Family insert, found periodically in Sunday

newspapers across the country, offers timely recipes, helpful

articles and valuable coupons. Additionally, Kraft's seasonal

cookbooks and free in-store recipe leaflets serve up enticing

entree and dessert ideas the whole family will enjoy.

Analysis from the Kraft Kitchens Study is based on ingredients and cooking appliances of over 1,000 items usually found in consumers' kitchens. The 300 new items added to this year's study reflect the explosion of variety and choices in grocery stores nationwide in the areas of convenience, ready-to-eat, ethnic, exotic, gourmet, vegetarian, prepared and value-added foods.

As the largest consumer packaged-foods company in the United States, Kraft Foods, Inc. is committed to being a one-stop, industry-leading resource for meal-planning and nutritional information.

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