Research: We live in the era of quick evening meals

Work, rushing to get the kids to school, extra classes and time for relaxation – Hamé’s non-representative survey, which analyzed 1,617 responses and ran between February 23 and March 8, sought to answer the question of what meals Hungarian households can fit into their lives in the hustle and bustle of everyday life and how much time they have left for this. It turned out that almost half of those surveyed (44.6%) spend 30 minutes or less in the kitchen, while more than a quarter (27.5%) spend a maximum of 45 minutes. With such a time frame, it is not surprising that easy-to-assemble solutions come to the fore.  

For nearly 80 percent of respondents, sandwiches are the solution when they have little time to cook. Interestingly, only one in ten respondents considers takeout food as an option. In the order of importance of the ingredients, cheese/cream cheese enjoys priority, while 63 percent of those surveyed placed pâté, i.e., fish, meat, or vegetable-based spreads that do not require refrigeration, in second place, compared to 59 percent for cold cuts. More than 92 percent of those surveyed consume pâté regularly, as they consider it a delicious (82%), quick-to-use (70%) and versatile ingredient available in many flavors (62%). It is a surprising creativity that, in addition to sandwiches and hot sandwiches, pâté can serve as a pasta sauce base or even as a salad ingredient for every seventh respondent. Time is key in terms of use, as four out of five people eat pâté for breakfast and dinner. Due to the results, it is important to highlight that several questions in the survey allowed multiple answers.  

69 percent of those who completed the questionnaire have or have had children. Multiple answers were allowed for this question as well. 61.4 percent are over 18 years old, 28.1 percent have children between 11 and 18 years old, and 36.2 percent are younger. Among family pâté consumers, the views of younger people also emerged: 18.6% also like pâté because even the little ones can easily open it. 

Their favorite is clearly fish pâté: according to respondents with children, young people like fish versions the most (39.2%), followed by poultry pâtés (30.2%). 

The research also confirms the assumption that the world of fast food is strongly tied to everyday life. In households with children, solutions based on simple, well-known flavors that require little preparation are particularly important. In many households, one person, typically the woman, does the shopping and cooking. Although the research by Hamé Hungária Kft. is not representative, it nevertheless strengthens this statement, because 91 percent of the respondents are women and nearly 70 percent of them answered that they plan or do the shopping alone. More than 80 percent regularly prepare pâté dishes for their children. A fifth of the survey participants were between 31 and 40 years old, more than a quarter were between 41 and 50, and nearly 25 percent identified themselves as between 51 and 60 years old.  

In the research, respondents who are not raising children make up nearly a third of the total sample (31.0%), and based on their answers, speed and practicality clearly shape their everyday eating habits. They most often have 16-30 minutes to prepare dinner (38.3%), but many people finish their evening meal in 31-45 minutes (29.7%), which is why easy-to-prepare dishes are particularly popular among them.