10% Mumbaikars ashamed of their kitchens, finds survey

The second edition of IKEA's global 'Life at Home' report, conducted across eight countries including India, comes with quite a few surprises — 10% of Mumbaikars feel uncomfortable, or even ashamed, of having friends in their kitchen, three out of 10 in Mumbai feel bad about the amount of food they throw away and 89% women in Mumbai feel confident in kitchen, according to the findings of the survey administered to 8,500 families from Berlin, London, Moscow, Mumbai, New York, Paris, Shanghai and Stockholm. A total of 8,527 respondents in age group 18-60 were spoken to.

The report focuses on activities around food in everyday life at home and how they can affect family's well being.

As per the report, new food traditions are being shaped, kitchen has become a place for any and every home activity, not necessarily only for eating, people are more frequently eating in other places like the sofa, the bed or at the desk. It found that women in Stockholm are least confident about cooking at home, while women in Mumbai lead the chart with 89%.

Making a meal with others is an excellent opportunity to bond and practice good team work. Mumbaikars value togetherness around the stove the most, followed by Moscow 88%. Cooking is the favourite activity of Mumbaikars, who see it as a way of spending time with each other.

"It's in the everyday moments at home, and even in the everyday frustrations, we find our inspiration, it's the base of our innovation and product development. Through this report, we get an understanding of how people live at home, what views, emotions and actions are connected to food and activities around it, and we are curious of what expressions this takes in life at home and in the society," observed Mikael Ydholm, research manager, IKEA of Sweden.

The report also has special insights about children and kitchen. It shows that nine out of 10 parents involve children in activities around food. The kitchen is seen as a great place for kids to learn new things. However, nearly a quarter of couples with children feel they aren't eating together as often as they would like to — 74% parents in Mumbai think it's important that their children are involved in activities around food as compared to Shanghai (81%,) Berlin (81%), Stockholm and Paris (52% each).

The study also underlines how 42% don't have time to cook on weekends and 12% are "not inspired" to cook, they feel least confident in the kitchen while cooking on weekdays. Cooking is more than taste and nutrition, 47% Mumbaikars enjoy cooking on weekdays. But the good news is that even when making a meal feels like a chore, everyday cooking is seen by most (72%) as being positive for the well being of family.

Another important takeaway from the study is on food wastage. The report highlights how people regularly double up on food and drink items — 30% Mumbaikars feel bad about the amount of food they throw away each week. But in Paris and Berlin, less than two in 10 are concerned about it. People are more concerned about how their kitchen looks, than the content of its cupboards.

IKEA has been around in India for 28 years, sourcing for its stores around the world. In India, IKEA currently has 48 suppliers with about 45,000 direct employees and about 4 lakh people in the extended supply chain. The IKEA group is the first major single brand retailer to get FDI approval and plans to open several stores in Delhi/NCR, Hyderabad, Karnataka and Maharashtra. There are currently 361 IKEA stores in 45 countries. IKEA was founded in Sweden in 1943. It employs 1,64,000 co-workers and had 821 million visitors during FY13 with a €30.1 billion sales turnover.