The rise of nostalgic foods
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Food has always had great power to make us feel incredibly nostalgic and bring back fond memories. The Disney Pixar movie Ratatouille perfectly displays this through unforgiving food critic ‘Anton Ego’.
Who represents how such a feeling of nostalgic warmth can be brought out of us by a mere taste of an old favourite? Despite being the harshest food critic in the country, he is immediately transported back to his mother cooking the same beloved dish during his childhood. He names chef Remy a street rat, the finest chef in France. This childhood movie illustrates that the power of food is not only in its taste or nutritional factors but in the memories it carries within it.
We asked our Twitter followers how some of their favourite foods are linked to memories, and here is what two of our readers said:
Both perfectly demonstrate how the link between a food (even as simple as cheese and crackers) or a meal can become a lifelong favourite treat when attached to a fond memory.
It is no surprise why, in times of great difficulty and when things are uncertain for many, supermarkets are seeing a rise in demand for nostalgic comfort food. During the pandemic, when a weekly shopping trip was an eagerly awaited event, supermarkets reported considerable rises in searches for popular nostalgic foods such as ‘knickerbocker glory’ and ‘dried trifle’, which saw an increase of over 700%. Both have never been popular with the younger generation but saw their heyday in the early 70s. This makes sense when looking at the average age of those that control the weekly shop purse strings. We ran a Twitter poll asking, do you ever feel a sense of nostalgia around certain foods or meals? Out of all those who voted, 100% agreed they feel nostalgic around foods.
No one has capitalised on this more than frozen food retail giants Iceland, who also own The Food Warehouse. The supermarket has seen a massive 25% increase in sales since the pandemic. One of the ways they have achieved this is their focus on releasing countless exclusive lines of nostalgic classics. One of which was their line of ice cream and lollies that saw the nation’s favourite sweet shop sweets, such as the milk bottle, foam bananas and giant strawberries, turned into frozen treats. As part of the line, they also exclusively re-released 90’s classic strawberry ice cream ‘Funny Feet’. To appeal to younger shoppers, they have recently started modernising old staples such as the new ‘salt and pepper smileys’ that shoppers can pick up for £4.
Many loved brands also tapped into this trend and began releasing old classics. Starbursts changed their packaging to a limited-edition version where they were again called their 1998 name Opal Fruits. The Prawn Cocktail Wotsit also returned after a petition garnered over 4,500 signatures on change.org.
Entering an era of a severe recession, the popularity of comforting, nostalgic foods is increasing again. In July 2022, Sainsbury’s reported an increase in Battenburg cake, Neapolitan ice cream and milkshakes, all retro favourites.
During such a turbulent time for consumers facing difficulty and changing financial situations, the demand for nostalgic comfort food and drink is expected to gain traction and continue growing in 2023 and beyond. Consumers are now more than ever seeking out flavours and products that offer a sense of comfort, nostalgia and familiarity.