Lakeland’s annual Trends Report launches today, with some sobering, comical and unexpected reveals. Hot off the press is the surprising revelation that 18% of us are cleaning our fridge just twice a year and 16% are managing to do it on an ad hoc basis only, when it becomes noticeably dirty. Thankfully, 38% of those surveyed cleaned theirs once a month, however the best habit to adopt, according to Lakeland’s Customer Ambassador, Wendy Miranda, is to empty your fridge and clean it, every time you do a big shop.
One of the biggest surprises in the report is that Chocolate has overtaken Victoria Sponge as the nation’s favourite cake for the first time in seven years. A quarter of the UK (23%) hailed it as their preferred option, versus a fifth (20%) who voted for Victoria Sponge. And why? Much has been made of what Lakeland is dubbing “the Matilda effect” – which has once again been driven by social media. The Matilda cake is the huge, multi-tiered chocolate creation inspired by the bake eaten by Bruce Bogtrotter in Roald Dahl’s book. Multiple #Matildacake recipes have racked up over 10 million views each on TikTok and have undoubtedly led to sales of baking chocolate rising by 18% at Lakeland in the last 12 months.
Leanne Murphy, Lakeland’s baking buyer, says: “It’s always great to see new trends emerging, but I didn’t think anything would topple the crown of the Victoria Sponge – which has almost become our national cake. We know this switch to chocolate is being driven predominantly by the under 25s, who are more likely to seek out and replicate bakes they’ve seen on Tik Tok – which is where the chocolate cake reigns supreme!”
Surveying 3,000 UK-based individuals, the report also reveals that the utility room has now become the most coveted room in the home. 48% of UK properties now boast one and for those without, one fifth of respondents said they’d happily ditch their garage in order to make room. The Tik Tok trend for sharing designs and inspiration, #laundyroomideas, has also clocked up over 70 million views to date and the utility room been labelled one of the most in-demand rooms for home buyers, according to property portal, Zoopla.
The 2024 Lakeland report also reveals that Gen Z-ers are saving the classic dinner party from extinction. Whilst just 49% of over 65s had hosted or entertained at home in the last 12 months, three quarters (75%) of 25–34-year-olds said they had and when asked why, it was a mix of to “show off their cooking skills” and because it was “cheaper than eating out with friends.” Interestingly, it was the 18-24 cohort that admitted to cheating their way through hosting, with a whopping one in five (19%) serving up a shop-bought creation as home-made. There was also a significant gender divide, with men significantly more likely to pass off dishes as home-made.
And what is being cooked in kitchens across the UK? The overwhelming favourite when people were asked to name their ultimate comfort food, was pasta – with 44% of the vote. At a time when high-protein, low carb dishes and diets are getting lots of traction, it’s interesting to see such a carb-heavy food lead the way, pipping roast dinners (41%) to the post. Third was curries, with 37%, followed by stews at 34%. And the source of our cooking inspiration? This has also changed significantly since Lakeland’s annual survey began – with just 30% of respondents now sourcing recipes from cookbooks, down from 51% in 1998. However, what has stood the test of time…is the importance of our mum and dad in handing down their favourite dishes to us to perfect, with 36% citing family as their biggest gastronomical inspiration.
Looking ahead to Christmas, the report highlighted that the UK’s obsession with Christmas Jumper Day now extended to pets too, with 20% of respondents proudly buying their pet pooches a festive jumper each year. Other pet pampering examples include the 16% of the UK that now buy their pets an advent calendar and one in four who are treating their dogs and cats to a Christmas Day stocking. And onto another classic festive tradition…the Christmas Cracker, which has now become quite the polarising accessory. Just 56% of over 55’s plan to buy them this year, with 10% citing “unfunny jokes” as one of the main reasons for avoiding them – but sales seem to have been saved by those in the 18-24 category, with a whopping 86% planning to let their Christmas go off with a bang!
Lakeland Christmas buyer, Rebecca Dudley says: “Every year the random, quirky habits and trends of the nation, never fail to make me smile. I’ve particularly loved seeing the VIP treatment we’re giving our pets and as someone that’s spent the last 12 months perfecting our cracker range for 2024, I’m hoping that our new selection have jokes that are met with a laugh, not a groan!”
