lockdown food moments

When we look back at the global pandemic induced lockdown, which will be the trends and behaviours that stand the test of time if any? With screen time up by something crazy like 70%, the sharing and consumption of information has never been more instantaneous or infectious.

Without dwelling on the surge in TikTok challenges, the new norm of WFH, Zoom Quiz fatigue and crap crafting, I wanted to focus on the food-related micro-trends and moments that shaped lockdown in the UK.

Dalgona Hype

Dalgona Coffee, is anyone still drinking that sugary whipped iced coffee sensation? (Guilty.) We reached peak Dalgona as the sun came out and stuck around for one of the hottest Aprils of the 20th century. With only three ingredients (freeze-dried coffee, sugar, boiled water) and served on the milk of your choice and ice it's no wonder everyone gave it a go. The trend kicked off in South Korea and spread across the world quicker than you could whip one up, via social media but most notably TikTok and Instagram.

Jamie Oliver's Keep Calm and Carry on Cooking 

Whatever you think of Jamie Oliver, you can't deny he very cleverly captured the zeitgeist of early lockdown and store cupboard cooking. As he broadcast from his home, with no crew on his iPhone with only his wife Jules for camera two support. He bought us simple riffs on his famous dishes with what he had to hand. The delightful cameos of his young families and his stressed, unwashed state was a feeling most would sympathise with. It is, however, worth noting that anti-poverty campaigner and food writer, Jack Monroe of Cooking On A Bootstrap felt the show was based on their concept. They were reported to be ‘hurt’ by the C4 snub and went on to deliver a daily digital food surgery — #JackMonroesLockdownLarder. While the online community were sympathetic to Jack Monroe, the Twittersphere was full of Jamie Oliver fans calling him a "national treasure".

The Great Basic Banana Bread Bake Off

As we dusted off our scales and mixing bowls in our droves to jump aboard the lockdown baking train in popularity for baking last seen at peak GBBO, circa 2013. Banana Bread was the bake of choice that won the nation's hearts. No one is still quite sure why. If you didn't post it on Instagram, did you even bake it?

Sourdough Starter Madness

On a high from the Banana Bread triumph? That's it champ, time to try your hands at baking real bread. Instagram was flooded with recipes and hacks for cultivating the perfect sourdough starter. Demand for flour skyrocketed leaving supermarket shelves empty and eventually leading to a National flour shortage. The National Association of British and Irish Millers (nabim) was quoted saying at the time that the industry was "working round the clock" to try to meet demand. However, interestingly enough, the challenge wasn't being able to make enough flour - but the lack of capacity to pack it into small bags for supermarkets. Flour is produced in bulk for bakeries and food manufacturers with only 4% of what is produced is sold through shops and supermarkets.

Dishoom Cookbook Copyright Scandal

With restaurants closed and delivery not yet up and running, fans were craving Dishoom delicacies (quite rightly) and needing their Black Daal fix (who wasn't?) 

But a few clueless peeps took it too far, referred to as cheeky so-and- so's in a post on the brands LinkedIn page. 

It had come to their attention that illegal PDFs of their Dishoom Cookbook were in circulation on WhatsApp. Not only a complete breach of copyright law, it smacks harder at a time when the hospitality industry is on its knees. Cookbooks and merchandise is a small but vital revenue stream to help restaurant operators to keep their businesses afloat.

Grow Your Own

Growing your own and getting green-fingered in your garden/ balcony/ window sill was a wholesome behavioural shift for many who without a hangover or social distractions had a lot of time and energy on their hands. The seeds hopefully sown at the start of lockdown mostly out of boredom and a little bit of of the genuine threat of a national food shortage will have finally started to yield. The quite literal fruits of satisfyingly smug amateur labours everywhere is courgettes, tomatoes and strawberries in abundance.

Grocery Boxes

With supermarket home delivery and click and collect services being, quite rightly, reserved for those self-isolating peep at risk and just generally leaving your house discouraged, food shopping became tricky to navigate. So we turned to food delivery firms. Able & Cole saw a 25% increase in demand while Odd Box who delivers food that would have usually gone to waste had to stop taking orders to cope. Natoora, a trade model who would usually supply straight to the hospitality industry, launched an app to sell their premium, seasonal produce directly to consumers. 

Pizza Pilgrims Frying Pan Pizza Kits

One of the first restaurant brands to market and with one of the better at home meal kits. With restaurants closed and little to no revenue stream, it was a scary time for operators. Pizza Pilgrims were quick to innovate and pivot their offer with the launch of Pizza In The Post, Frying Pan Pizza Kits.

The Pizza kits priced at £15 contain the ingredients for two pizzas. Always a considered approach from the founder-owners, the box arrived chilled in sustainable packaging and the product itself is slick and designed to fit in their branded pizza boxes.

Through their social channels and supporting PR campaign, they've built and sustained the hype for the kits. With the co-founder James adding value to the experience by rating customers efforts out of 10 on his Instagram stories.

Bon Appetit Boycott

Editor-in-chief of multi-channel, American food publication Bon Appetit, (which UK foodies love to love), Adam Rapoport resigned as staff accuse publication of systemic racism. Following this, the treatment of BAME individuals at Bon Appetit came to light as assistant editor Sohla El-Waylly claimed she had not been paid for her video appearances in comparison to her white colleagues. Further BAME employees came forward to second this as well as the general pay disparity and bias across the publication. Contributors and the wider BA team took to social to stand with Sohla and commit to being better allies and educating themselves in line with the Black Lives Matter movement. While the BA Instagram posts are business as usual, at the time of writing concerned and active fans were commenting on each post in droves demanding to know if 'Sohla will get paid?'

Free School Meals & Marcus Rashford

Manchester United footballer, Marcus Rashford used his profile for good and released an emotional open letter to the government, in which he called for protection for vulnerable families. Drawing on his childhood of relying on free school meals, he called on the government to reconsider their move not to extend the scheme into the summer. This very public call-out pushed the PM to make a u-turn on announcing a new voucher scheme to keep children from some of the most deprived families in the UK fed during the school summer holidays. The COVID Summer Food Fund works out about £15 a week for the six-week break.