15.01.12
Predictions for 2012 by Lakeland
Lakeland, the home of creative kitchenware have shared their predicted
trends for 2012:
•Experimenting with food •Self-prep not pre-prep! •Save
food, save money • ‘I made this for you’ •Make do
and mend.
Lakeland predicts that 2012 will see a return to tried and trusted home management habits such as saving and reusing leftovers rather than simply throwing them away and preparing (and even growing) our own vegetables instead of buying pre-prepared ones.
Matthew Canwell, Lakeland’s Buying Director said ‘It’s Lakeland’s belief that, rather than being simply short-lived trends, they will actually become re-established behaviours over the coming months and years. In a nutshell, for Lakeland’s customers it’s about striking a balance between keeping their spending under control and not compromising on living well and feeling good about themselves.’
Experimenting with food
Customers will have the chance to experiment with more adventurous dishes
as Lakeland introduces the brand new R-Evolution Kits, £44.99 each.
We might not all be Heston or Ferran Adria but now anyone can give ‘molecular
gastronomy’ a try.
With natural ingredients that are safe and simple to use, they make great gifts for anyone who tends towards a more experimental kind of cooking, will impress friends and family, give guests a taste of the unexpected and offer a brand new way to present dinner!
Self-prep not pre-prep!
Sales of knives (up 24%), knife sharpeners (up 19%) and chopping boards
(up 10%) are all on the increase; add to that a rise in saucepan sales of
15% and it becomes clear that people are both cooking more at home and also
doing more of their own prep. We believe there are two key reasons for that:
first of all, there’s the ever-growing demand to understand what’s
in our food, and there can be no better way to know than by preparing and
cooking it yourself. Secondly, people are economising, and preparing vegetables
or meat from scratch is cheaper than buying ready-chopped veg or ready meals.
Save food, save money
Lakeland have seen a significant growth in sales of their super-strong foil
and cling film this year, and put this down to the many occasions when people
are now saving food for the following day rather than throwing leftovers
away.
‘I made this for you’
There’s a steady growth in sales of both cupcake cases and icing accessories
– with an increase this autumn of 30%. Coupled with a rise in the
sale of presentation bags and boxes, it’s clear that Lakeland’s
customers appreciate how a home-baked offering provides a relatively inexpensive
way to create an original gift with a more personal touch.
Make do and mend
The ongoing bite of the economy is reflected in the cleaning products Lakeland
are selling. People are obviously spending more time at home, and more time
‘feathering their nests’. This is seeing a rise in sales of
cleaning products generally, but especially in products that revive specific
household items; for instance, sales of specialist cleaners have increased
by more than a third. This includes carpet cleaners, floor polishers and
dry cleaning kits. Interestingly, window cleaning products are also in double
digit sales growth – people appear to be cleaning their windows themselves
rather than paying someone else.
And there’s still more to come…
This year will also see more celebrations than ever as we enjoy the Diamond
Jubilee and the Olympics. There are plenty of reasons to be looking to Lakeland,
the home of creative kitchenware, to help set these celebrations off with
a bang.