Food shoppers are more experimental

29/12/2009

Adventurous shoppers have developed a spice for life and are replacing traditional items on the grocery list with chilli sauce and basmati rice, according to a survey.
Research for Morrisons found that shoppers are experimenting with more international cuisine than a decade ago.
Cupboard must-haves now include chilli sauce, basmati rice and balsamic vinegar which are being favoured over items such as pickle, long-grain rice and malt vinegar.
Three fifths of people (60%) are more likely to add chilli sauce than pickle to the leftover turkey and a quarter (25%) will accompany it with hummus rather than coleslaw, the research discovered.
Nearly half (46%) consider sweet potato more of a must have than parsnip, a fifth (22%) choose pak choi over cabbage and a quarter (23%) opt for sushi over ham.
Half (51%) are cooking more Italian food than a decade ago and a third more Indian (36%), Mexican (33%) and Chinese (31%).
Two in three (66%) recreate the taste of Italy in the kitchen one to two times a week and half (50%) regularly cook Chinese and Indian food.
Group marketing director Angus Maciver said: "It's fascinating to see the new range of foods many of us now regard as shopping essentials."
The research was conducted among 1,000 UK adults during December by Redshift Research.
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