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The coronavirus pandemic has changed the way we buy, store and prepare food. Lockdown may now be lifting. But how will these experiences impact our daily life after coronavirus? And what will they mean for the future of kitchen design? Here are our five predictions.
The future of kitchen design
The coronavirus pandemic has changed the way we buy, store and prepare food.
Many former technophobes have finally switched to online shopping. With restaurants closed, we’ve brushed up our cooking skills. Faced with shortages, we’ve learnt how to make the most of our staples and leftovers. And we’ve been baking like crazy to calm our monkey minds.
Lockdown may now be lifting. But how will these experiences impact our daily life after coronavirus? And what will they mean for the future of kitchen design?
Here are our five predictions.
1 – Future kitchen design will use surface space differently
The pandemic has meant that our kitchens have been busier than ever. We’ve faced the dance of the appliances and the battle for the plugs. And avoided noisy devices that disturb the neighbours and wake up the kids. Now we’re craving solutions that maximise kitchen space and offer us a sense of calm amongst the chaos.
Appliance manufacturers like Millo – a FoodTech 500 finalist – are already a step ahead here. Their Magnetic Air Drive kitchen table includes built-in wireless power generators. Consumers can simply place their appliance in the right spot and activate it directly from the countertop.
Then Bosch’s PAI projector can help us put this space to good use. Mounted over any work surface, it turns countertops into giant touchscreens. So consumers can be guided through the cooking process without getting their phone or tablet splattered with sauce.
2 – Kitchen design will make it easier to socialise at home
Research has shown that millennials tend to value experiences over products. This doesn’t mean that they’re not interested in tech – quite the opposite. But they want solutions that make it easier for them to enjoy socialising at home. Like that moment when your foodie friends have arrived, but you’ve forgotten to open their favourite bottle.
This is where Aveine’s smart wine aerator might come in handy. Consumers use the app to scan the label and track down the brand in its database. Then this smart device uses an algorithm to inject just the right amount of air bubbles to maximise the flavour. After recently raising €1 million, the company will now be expanding to cover the UK, US and Asian markets.
3 – Post-COVID kitchens will be greener
After all those weeks cooped up inside, we’re eager to bring the outdoors, indoors. Our empty larders have left us looking for ways to pep up our staples, leading to a boom in urban farming.
These developments are likely to put in-kitchen hydroponic systems back on consumers’ radars. Prêt à Pousser’s plug-in grow system makes it super simple to enjoy our own vegetables, mushrooms and herbs at home. After bagging €4.3 million at the end of last year, this Parisian startup is now looking to expand across Europe.
4 – Kitchen design will make us more creative cooks
The pandemic has well and truly tested our culinary repertoires. At the same time, consumers are demanding more personalised support. So we predict that software that helps us to find recipes that reflect our specific dietary requirements will become increasingly popular.
Innit and Whisk both offer possible solutions here. Innit provides tailored product and recipe recommendations, based on your personal food profile. While Whisk allows you to save recipes from anywhere online and transform them into a collaborative shopping list.
5 – Smart kitchen design solutions will help us waste less
The COVID-19 pandemic has made us think differently about how we manage the food we buy. With fewer shopping trips, we’ve got used to making food stretch further. Luckily, there are plenty of companies innovating in this area.
Silo kitchen, for example, has created a unique vacuum-sealing container system that helps food stay fresher for longer. It comes with a smart tagging and tracking app to help consumers manage their food inventory and automate repurchase.
Kitchens of the future: a balance of functional and fun
The coronavirus lockdown has helped us to reconnect with our kitchens. It’s also made us more open to investing in solutions that enable us to enjoy great tasting food at home.
Future kitchen design will need to address our daily pain points. But it’ll also need to offer genuinely human user experience and make our cooking lives more fun. The companies that crack this will reach out beyond foodies and techies – and increase their chance of going mainstream.