There’s a whole world of food out there and Britain’s tastebuds are going on a trip. 

Gone are the days of meat and two veg as 22% of British home cooks say they plan their weekly shop around new and exciting recipes they want to try. These findings come from our latest nationally representative research, as we set out to find what tickles our tastebuds across the UK. Following a study of over 2000 of Britain’s home cooks, Ubamarket is just days away from announcing the Nation’s Favourite Recipe. And soon after, we’ll be announcing your top chef and other surprising favourites.

Just how explorative are British palates? It turns out, they’re more open-minded and daring than ever before. A whopping 15% of British home cooks used to be weekly shoppers, but are now recipe-based shoppers: That’s 4,305,323 people! And exactly what are they cooking up?
From aquafaba to za’atar, the British public are becoming more adventurous in the ingredients on their shopping lists. We’re keeping the Nation’s Top Favourite Recipe a secret for a few more days, but this popular dish is one of FOUR international recipes amongst Britain’s Top Five. Considering that specialty ingredients are now in greater demand, retailers are looking for simple solutions.

Stocking your shelves with specialty spices is one thing, but what happens when customers demand greater variety within the old fruit and veg category? Yet another interesting find of our survey revealed that over a quarter of home cooks are now incorporating plant based and meat free recipes into their diets – even if they don’t identify as being vegetarian or vegan! That’s over 7 million hungry people! Supermarkets have been expanding their fruit and vegetable repertoire to meet growing demand for more interesting produce over the past years. Carrots and potatoes are all well and good but now Britons are requesting the pak choi or jackfruit they need to make the delicious recipe they read about in a Jamie Oliver cookbook or saw on Instagram.

That’s why to help you shop smarter, Ubamarket rearranges your shopping list and gives ingredient locations in store to maximise the efficiency and ease with which you find the ingredients for that special new recipe you want to try. For the customer, it means you can find your ingredients at your own pace without having to run down the aisles looking for an employee to help you out. For retailers, such a nimble tech solution means supermarket staff can focus on more time-sensitive tasks and more personal customer interactions.

We are not a meat and two veg nation of chefs anymore. And with so many colourful, flavoursome and exciting recipes available to us, why would we be? Make sure you check in next week to see, out of the wide world of recipes, which one is the nation’s favourite. Or you could attempt to try all of them and decide for yourself.

Find out how you can use Ubamarket to help customers find the products they want.