Cooking for victory: BOGOF Brits take to the stove to beat economic austerity

Canny Brits are ‘cooking from scratch’, using their freezers and hunting down supermarket discounts in unprecedented numbers to save money on food and beat the economic squeeze, according to a Good Food Magazine survey. The Good Food survey, to mark ‘Home Cooking Month’, found many are now shunning ready meals and takeaways with 60% of respondents cooking entirely from scratch at least four times a week. More than 50% now have a takeaway just once a month or less, with 78%  strongly preferring cooking from scratch.

Supermarket Buy-One-Get-One-Free deals (BOGOFs) were the number one method of saving cash, according to 2,236 readers of magazines published by Immediate Media Co. The second favourite money-saving method was ‘cooking entirely from scratch’. ‘Using the freezer’ was third and ‘using leftovers’ came fourth. Other popular tactics included planning ahead, growing our own veg and using cheaper cuts of meat. 

Good Food Magazine, on sale now priced £3.60, is urging all Brits to help beat the squeeze by cooking all meals from scratch this month, to cut costs. The latest issue of Good Food is a budget special and reveals how swapping 10 everyday ingredients at the supermarket each week can save you £540 a year. There is also a host of costed family meals, ideas for batch cooking and lunchboxes, plus a range of other tips and techniques to make the weekly shop go further.

Gillian Carter, Good Food Magazine editor, said: “Most people are feeling the pinch right now, so budgeting on food is a good way to economise. Home cooking needn’t be a chore: you save money and it tastes better, plus you know exactly what has gone into each dish, so it can be healthier. We want to encourage the nation to swap tips and get into the habit of home cooking, not just for this month but for the rest of 2012.”

The top ten ways to save money were:

1)    Supermarket offers (eg. Buy 1 get 1 free) 77.01%

2)    Cook from scratch 75.40%                         

3)     Use the freezer  72%

4)    Use leftovers 65.97%

5)    Plan your weekly meals 47.85%

6)    Stick to a shopping list 46.87%

7)    Grow your own produce 37.03%

8)    Use cheaper cuts of meat 32.69%

9)    Ignore use by/ best before dates 29.47%

10) Reduce the number of ready meals purchased 27.01%

To celebrate Home Cooking Month, Good Food is running a recipe competition – challenging people to create a delicious meal for four for under £5. Full details can be found on www.bbcgoodfood.com.  

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Notes to editors

For more information on the survey or for any of the budget cooking features from the magazine, please contact Toby Hicks at Immediate Media Co on 020-8433-3807.

The survey was carried out from a cross section of 2,236 readers of magazines published by Immediate Media Co.

Good Food magazine is the UK’s  leading food title with 294,720 monthly readers, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC). Each issue is packed with over 100 recipes for everyday meals, easy entertaining and dishes from celebrity chefs. Every recipe is tested by the Good Food cookery team. Good Food is wholly-owned by BBC Worldwide and published by Immediate Media Co on their behalf.