If you swapped your business casual for an apron during this last year of lockdown, you’re in good company.
With limited access to restaurants, Canadians across the country have started cooking for themselves more than ever before. In our survey of Canadian readers during COVID-19 released in April 2020, 56% of Canadians said that they were already cooking more since the physical distancing measures set in place that March.
As social distancing continued, so did the cooking.
In our Canadian Leisure & Reading Study 2020, we asked Canadians about the leisure activities they participated in on a weekly and daily basis in 2020: cooking was in the top three on both lists. Every week, 86% of Canadians can be found in their kitchens, closely behind the 87% of Canadians who listen to music, and the 92% who watch TV, movies, or videos weekly. Day by day, 68% of Canadians are cooking, not far from the 74% of Canadians who browse social media or the web, and the 76% who watch TV, movies, or videos every day.
So, what’s cooking?
Using SalesData, our sales tracking service for the Canadian English-language print trade book market, we’ve sifted through all 134 BISAC subject categories for cookbooks to bring you the latest trends of what’s been cooking in Canada’s kitchens last year.
Eating our veggies
Cookbooks related to vegetables and plant-based diets became dinnertime staples in 2020. Vegan cookbooks in particular increased 125% from 2019 to 2020 and now occupy a similar marketshare to Vegetarian ones, shown in the graph below.
Canadians' growing love of vegetables isn’t limited to vegans or vegetarians. Sales of cookbooks for Vegetables were up 36% in 2020 and an interest in Salads saw an incredible increase of 1,473%, shown on the graph below. Somewhere in between, sales for cookbooks on Low Cholesterol were up a considerable 259% and Natural Foods increased 44%, too.
This being said, Canadians haven’t given up cooking meat entirely. Cookbooks on Game and Poultry were up 302% and 28% respectively in 2020, and Barbecue & Grilling cookbooks saw an uptake of 16%.
Baking up a storm
While not every Canadians' “new normal” included a sourdough starter, Canadians really did take to baking in 2020, with sales for cookbooks on Baking increasing 48% from 2019.
This time last year, we explored the rising popularity of the Bread subcategory. Did these cookbooks continue to be the bread and butter for Canadian bakers? All jokes aside, Bread remained a hugely popular subcategory for 2020. All told, sales of Bread cookbooks increased 93% over the year, shown in the graph below.
While cookbook sales for other baked goods subcategories like Cakes, Cookies, Pastry, and Pizza were down for 2020, Pies were sky high, with an increase of 220%!
Getting a taste of travel
Homebound in 2020, Canadians turned to cooking to get a taste of different cuisines from around the world. Overall, sales of Regional and Ethnic cookbooks were up 7% last year, with over 20 different subcategories seeing increases in sales over 2020, ranging from Thai, Irish, and Soul Food, to French cuisine.
The biggest increases in sales were seen by American Southern States, African, and California Style cookbooks, each up 294%, 279%, and 229% respectively.
Other cookbooks that also saw big uptakes in sales last year were Russian (181%), Middle Eastern (162%), Southeast Asian (157%), and Polish (157%).
Keeping ourselves entertained
With the top leisure activity for Canadians across the board being watching TV, movies, and videos, it should come as no surprise that sales of Media Tie-In cookbooks saw big increases last year. This subcategory, which is used to classify cookbooks related to celebrities, movies, TV shows, and other media, reached its all-time peak in 2020 with an increase of 180%.
Making the restaurant experience at home
With limited access to restaurants, cafés, pubs, or bars over the last year, Canadians bought cookbooks that would replicate these spaces in their kitchens.
As seen in the graph below, Canadians are learning to become their own baristas and bartenders, with Coffee & Tea cookbooks up 59% and Bartending & Cocktails sales increasing 34% in 2020.
They’re also inspired by Individual Chefs & Restaurants, with sales of this cookbook subcategory increasing 27% from 2019. Eager to host a dinner party, cookbooks on Entertaining gained 57% last year and sales of Courses & Dishes cookbooks were up 24%.
On the whole, Canadians have been upgrading their cooking skills over the last year. They’ve invested in Reference cookbooks, up 11% in 2020, and learned new cooking methods, like Frying, Wok, and Canning & Preserving, which saw increases of 159%, 34%, and 32% respectively.
And all of this while cooking on a Low Budget, which saw an uptake of 18%, or maybe even just for themselves, with Cookery for One seeing an increase in sales of 34%.
Following our guts
Beyond all the trends in cookbook sales over the last year, many Canadians took to their kitchens for another purpose: to find comfort in food. As a subcategory, Comfort Food saw sales increases like never before and gained new heights after an increase of 236% in 2020, shown in the graph below.
Other familiar comfort foods also went up in 2020, with sales of the Casserole subcategory increasing by 182% and Chocolate cookbooks up 63%.
Food for thought
Instead of crying over spilled milk, Canadians turned lemons into lemon curd by cooking their way through 2020. While it may have felt like there were too many chefs in the kitchen at times, it didn’t stop Canadians from trying new foods, learning new skills, or reaching for that new cookbook.
Are you hungry for more data? SalesData got you covered! With a SalesData account, you can create one-time or ongoing reports that will help you identify trends and changes — like the ones we just shared with you. Learn more about SalesData and its reporting features here.
Bon appétit and happy cooking!
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