The Barbecue Is a Popular Place

August 10, 2000

Eight of every ten adults grilled last year according to a new study by marketing information provider The NPD Group, Inc. People are grilling more all year round, making barbecue grills one of the most popular heating appliances in the American home and creating new opportunities for marketers, reveals NPD's latest Grilling In America report, a survey of 12,800 nationally representative households.

As consumers look for ways to simplify food preparation, more people are relying on their grills for fast, convenient family dinner meals, the study showed. Seventy percent of grilled dinner meals take thirty minutes or less to prepare, compared to half of dinner meals overall. In keeping with the changing needs of meal preparers, 31% of adults agree that grilling involves less cleanup, takes less time, and allows them to capitalize on convenience and health-consciousness without sacrificing taste, the number one reason that consumers grill.

"Americans turn to the grill for a few reasons," states Arnie Schwartz, NPD's vice president of National Eating Trends(R). "While it adds taste varieties to the meal routine, it also makes life a little easier. There aren't any pots and pans to clean up; the meals tend to be simpler; and if mom is clever, she can recruit dad to actually do the grilling since the numbers show that men cook on the grill more frequently than women."

Although grill usage skews more toward the weekend, especially Sunday, which accounts for 23% of all grilling, 60% of grilling takes place on weekdays. Nine out of every ten grilled meals are prepared for family members only.

Summer months are peak season for barbecuing, but winter, spring, and fall also are popular. Surprisingly, growth is occurring in all regions during the winter season, with one out of every five households grilling during the colder months, according to this study. Gas grill users tend to grill more year-round than charcoal grill users.

While virtually all household segments have seen growth in grill usage over time, NPD found that higher household income translates into higher grill usage. Of all the household segments polled, working parents have increased their use of the grill most dramatically over the past decade to become the largest sector of the population who grills.

The Grilling In America study is a combined study of more than 12,800 households surveyed from 1990 through 1999 by National Eating Trends(R), The NPD Kitchen Audit, CREST(R), and NPD Online(sm). The sample is demographically and geographically balanced to U.S. Census Bureau statistics. Results are balanced to reflect total behavior across the US.

The NPD Group is an international marketing information company headquartered in Port Washington, NY. Founded in 1953, the firm specializes in consumer purchasing and behavior via both Internet-based and traditional research methodologies, including online and offline consumer panels and point-of-sale tracking.