Sales of cottage pie at Waitrose have soared 110% in the last month, as Britons increasingly turn to hearty, nostalgic dishes instead of light summer fare, a phenomenon the supermarket has dubbed 'reverse comfort eating.'
Surge in comfort food sales
According to Waitrose, South African red wine sales are up 68% compared with the same period last year. Other winter comfort foods seeing significant increases include retro chicken, bacon and leek pie (up 41%), chicken korma (up 67%), and chicken and ham gratin (68%). Home cooks are also embracing traditional recipes despite the heat, with searches on Waitrose's recipe site up 67% for toad-in-the-hole, 91% for spaghetti bolognese, and 57% for rarebit mac and cheese. Trifle, another 1950s staple, has seen a 100% year-on-year increase in sales of its strawberry version.
Psychological shift amid uncertainty
Food historian and author Seren Charrington-Hollis observed a similar trend at a recent VIP event at the Llangollen Eisteddfod music festival, where cottage pies and lamb hotpots were in high demand despite the heat. 'They all wanted these home-cooked meals,' she said, noting that guests were 'fed up of salads.' She attributed the shift to psychological factors: 'I think it's very much a psychological switch, of people wanting to really indulge in home-cooked food and traditional food.' Charrington-Hollis pointed to the cost of living crisis, global conflicts, and political change as contributors to uncertainty, adding that 'the weather is not quite right' and people seek comfort in familiar foods as a way to 'reset.'
Cost of living and convenience factors
Chef Simon Wood, winner of MasterChef 2015, believes the cost of living crisis is a key driver. With people cutting back on eating out, they are trying to recreate pub classics at home. 'I think they're trying to get that hint of going out to the pubs but maybe doing it at home,' he said. He also cited time constraints and lack of kitchen skills as reasons for choosing ready meals, along with the practical issue that 'salad may not last' for weekly shoppers.
Multicultural influences
While many of the popular dishes are traditional British fare, the inclusion of chicken korma shows a broader trend. Professor Rebecca Earle, a food historian at the University of Warwick, noted that this indicates 'not all 1950s, trad wife stuff' and reflects 'a little glimmer of a multicultural Britain coming through.'
Waitrose's perspective
Stephen Parkins-Knight, Waitrose's senior innovation chef, explained the phenomenon: 'Forget the thermostat – when a heatwave goes on, raw salads and chilled plates can often lose their cool fast. What we're seeing is a trend in 'reverse comfort eating' – after spending all day drained by the heat, people crave rich, grounding staples to recharge, pivoting back toward comfort and familiarity.'
