Reconnecting through food: when food recreates bonds
According to the white paper SIAL Insights published by SIAL Paris in 2024, the collective dimension of food has never been so central. Through shared meals, a return to tradition or the discovery of new flavours, consumers are reaffirming their need for conviviality and meaning. Cooking is becoming a vehicle for human connections and transmission in a world in search of bearings.
Eating is sharing
Cooking is also about creating bonds. According to SIAL Insights 2024, 30% of consumers associate eating with a moment of sharing, and 40% say they like to cook as much for themselves as for their loved ones – a figure that rises to 50% in Nigeria. This desire to come together is reflected in the evolution of restaurant formats: communal tables in restaurants, collaborative food courts or hybrid venues combining shopping and conviviality.
In France as elsewhere, one in four people say that entertaining guests is a real source of culinary pleasure, and this figure rises to one in three in the Middle East and in France. Restaurants have understood this: some are now focusing on strong social experiences, where meeting people is as much on the menu as the food.
Traditions revisited, memory revived
In the face of recent upheavals, consumers are finding comfort in their roots. Nearly a quarter of respondents show a marked taste for traditional dishes, which are carriers of memories, transmission and identity. This is reflected in the product offering by a return of old recipes, vintage packaging or brands that capitalise on their ‘original recipe’.
This phenomenon is also gaining ground in chefs’ kitchens, with a strong comeback of bistros, bouillons and vermouth bars. The younger generations are not to be outdone: attracted by affordable prices and an assumed authenticity, they appropriate these places as spaces for socialising. And more than 1 in 10 consumers say they like to pass on their culinary traditions to the youngest members of the family, reinforcing this intergenerational bond around the table.
Travelling on your plate: the culinary exploration continues
Curiosity about taste remains a sure value: more than 1 in 3 consumers worldwide like to discover new flavours, with a peak of 41% in China. Korean, Mediterranean and African cuisines are appealing for their richness, and are making their way onto shelves and into restaurants. Algerian gastronomy, still under-represented in France, is experiencing a revival, for example, driven by passionate chefs.
In the fast food sector, ‘ethnic’ cuisines – tacos, kebabs, Asian specialities – account for 27% of new visits in 2023, confirming their strong hold on consumer habits. As for the most searched recipe on Google in 2023? Korean bibimbap, proof that culinary trends are also exported through pop culture.
In 2024, the quest for connection is at the heart of dietary changes. Whether it is rediscovering the dishes of yesteryear, sharing a meal with loved ones or discovering new cultures through cooking, eating is once again becoming a profoundly human act. At the crossroads of the intimate and the collective, food is more than ever acting as a unifying force.
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Image credit: klara-kulikova – Unsplash
