Food safety and rising costs fuel homemade meals trend

ISTANBUL

Turkish consumers, squeezed by rising prices and growing food-safety concerns, are tightening their budgets and increasingly opting for homemade and traditional meals over eating out.

A wave of food poisoning incidents has eroded consumer confidence, driving households to embrace homemade products — even as questions linger about whether home preparation is truly safer.

A study by market research firm NielsenIQ for the Food Retailers Association shows consumers are acting more frugally, more controlled and more planned due to economic conditions.

Spending more time at home and reducing out-of-home consumption are becoming permanent behaviors. Price comparison and discount tracking have become standard habits. While the global inclination to avoid waste and buy only what’s needed is 52 percent, it rises to 56 percent in Türkiye.

Heightened sensitivity around food poisoning news, perceived increases in illness, debates over chemical content, and trust in packaging information are becoming critical purchase factors.

The presence of children at home, health issues, and social media influence directly shape nutritional decisions, while practices like freezing seasonal produce and preparing homemade staples such as canned goods and "mantı," a type of dumpling, gain traction.

The return to homemade and local production sits at the center of a broader search for trust. Demand is rising for appliances that support home preparation — dough mixers, automatic coffee machines and blenders — while packaging details increasingly drive decisions.

Consumers pay particular attention to labels such as “organic,” “vegan” and “non-GMO,” as well as claims like “no added sugar/coloring,” levels of nutrients such as salt and fat and diet compatibility.

Consumer Rights Association President Ergün Kılıç said the decline in dining out has put the reliability of supermarkets under scrutiny.

“We say this could be a Consumer Ministry,” Kılıç noted, emphasizing that current inspections tend to come into focus only after incidents of illness, poisoning, or death.

He highlighted the economic pressure on retirees and minimum-wage earners: “How can they afford to eat out? There’s a heavy focus on chicken. People prefer to cook at home.”

“But here’s the problem: What proves that what you make at home is safe? You still buy raw materials from the market. We only see pesticide issues in agricultural products when shipments are turned back at customs,” he said, calling for market surveillance and inspection units to be consolidated under an independent authority.