Air fryers and voice-controlled digital assistants are popular kitchen items

Chicago, July 28, 2023 — Each kitchen in America reflects the lifestyle and tastes of the household it serves and shares similarities with other kitchens across the country. To capture these similarities, Circana, formerly IRI and The NPD Group, recently conducted an audit of America’s kitchens to help food companies and housewares manufacturers understand what appliances, cookware, utensils, and food ingredients U.S. consumers have in their kitchens, what they think of their cooking skills, and their usage and sources of recipes.

Below is a small sampling from Circana’s 2023 Kitchen Audit Study, which surveyed a U.S. representative sample of adults 18 and older:

1. Two-thirds of those who own an air fryer used it in the past four weeks​.

2. 55 and older consumers are more likely to have celery on hand than younger adults.

3. Adobo spice is more likely to be in the kitchens of Northeast U.S. consumers.

4. Just under one-third of U.S. adults own a stir fry pan or wok.

5. 54% of meal preparers own a voice-controlled home device; setting a timer and converting recipes are among the most popular kitchen-related device commands.

6. Even novice cooks will attempt baking cakes at home with a cake mix. 34% of cake mix consumers describe their cooking skills as limited.

“Kitchens are command central for U.S. households, and knowing what foods, beverages, appliances, cookware/bakeware, utensils, and other cooking materials on hand is a gold mine of actionable information,” says Darren Seifer, Circana food and beverage industry analyst. “Not to mention how fascinating it is to get a peek inside America’s kitchens.”