People return to restaurants post-pandemic

But cook less than before lockdown

We’ve looked at home cooking trends, but what about the other big factor that influences food buying habits – how much people go out to eat now they are no longer confined by Covid-related lockdowns?Overall, half of Thais households eat out at least once a week, while 20% don’t dine out at all. Again, there are nuances; in rural areas where there is less choice, people are less likely to go to a restaurant, regarding it as something for a special occasion, while in urban regions (cities and their suburbs) some people eat out once a day.

The more people dine out, the less they spend on cooking staples and the more likely they are to buy convenience foods and snacks, with this tendency particularly prevalent among the group that eats out most days.That’s not to say restaurant goers never eat in; far from it - despite enjoying meals out, urban dwellers also cook at home, with around half saying they do so almost every day, with rural households doing so more often. In total, more than 90% of Thai households cook at home at least once a week. But although going out to eat is back to pre-pandemic levels, people are still cooking at home less often than they did during lockdown. What other factors are driving the market down?