Australians are losing interest in purchasing cake mixes says a new Roy Morgan Research study.

According to Roy Morgan Research, between 2011 and 2015, the proportion of Australians who purchased cake mix in an average four-week period fell from 10.4 per cent to 7.7 per cent.

The downward trend was evident in all age groups with18 – 24 year olds particularly avoiding the product. The purchase rate of this group dropped from 8.3 per cent to 5.1 per cent between 2011 – 2015.

Even among parents of kids under 16, traditionally one of the groups most likely to buy cake mix, purchase incidence has taken a hit. Whereas 17.8 per cent of Aussie parents bought cake mix in an average four weeks in 2011, that figure slipped to 13.9 per cent in 2015.

Obese Australians more likely to purchase cake mix

Although “obese” Australians are also purchasing less cake mixes, the research found that they are still purchasing more than Australians who are not obese. In 2015, 6.5 per cent of Australians whose weight was described as “acceptable” brought cake mix at least once every four weeks. By comparison, 10.7 per cent of obese Australians brought cake mix every four weeks.

Cake-mix purchase incidence by BMI: 2011 vs 2015

Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia), Jan–Dec 2011 (n=18,131) and Jan–Dec 2015 (n=14,674).

Andrew Price, General Manager of Consumer Products at Roy Morgan Research said he believes reality cooking shows could be contributing to a growing disinterest in cake mixes.

“With TV shows like The Great Australian Bake Off and My Kitchen Rules setting a high bar in the kitchen, could it be that Australians have been inspired to greater culinary heights themselves, shunning the easy option of packaged cake mix and baking cakes from scratch instead?” Price said.

“While our data cannot answer that question, it certainly points at a widespread decline in purchase incidence of cake mix across different sectors of the population,” he stated.

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