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The average person owns six cookbooks, but cooks a menu of nine meals as they struggle to find inspiring ingredients
Chef Tom Kerridge and Ocado launch nationwide initiative to find next big thing in food and drink to help expand the nation’s tastebuds

We are spending more time than ever in the kitchen but are eating the same nine meals on a loop, with a fifth of people sticking to the same menu for over a year.

In spite of this, research from Ocado, the world’s biggest online-only supermarket, reveals we are a nation of aspirational foodies at heart with the average person owning six cookbooks. However, these cookbooks are gathering dust, as often an inability to source the more unusual ingredients required stops home cooks being as adventurous in the kitchen as they want to be. A third of aspiring foodies even admitted to travelling up to an hour to get hold of interesting ingredients.

To help aspiring chefs find the products and ingredients they need to create tasty recipes more easily, Ocado has joined forces with Chef Tom Kerridge and launched Britain’s Next Top Supplier, a nationwide initiative to find the next big thing in food and drink, giving home cooks access to more unusual, hard to find ingredients. The winning product will be stocked at Ocado so it can be enjoyed by food lovers across the UK at the click of a button.

Tom Kerridge, Chef Patron of The Hand & Flowers and judge on the panel of Britain’s Next Top Supplier, commented: “It seems as a nation we are at a crossroads, wanting to become more adventurous but sometimes finding it difficult to source the right ingredients. There are amazing ingredients out there, especially from small suppliers across the UK just waiting to be discovered.
Ocado’s competition aims to scour the UK to find the best produce from small suppliers and deliver them to your kitchen table.”

Regional Foodie Hotspots

When it comes to foodie aspirations, some regions are further ahead than others. The research reveals that a quarter of people from East Anglia own more than thirteen cook books, double the average in the UK, whilst people in Plymouth and York turn their backs on written recipes, claiming to be able to recreate 12 dishes without referring to a book, app or website and cooking from memory. The Welsh are the most exotic in their nine-meal rotation, with two dishes a week inspired by another country.

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Britain’s Cockiest Cooks

Regions that rate themselves as best in the kitchen

1. Scotland
2. London
3. North East
4. South East
5. East Anglia

Travel the Distance

The places where people are most likely to travel for more than an hour to pick up a specialist product

1. Wales
2. Northern Ireland
3. East Anglia
4. London
5. North East

Secret Ingredients

The secret weapons in cooking for regions

1. Wales: Chocolate
2. West Midlands: Tomato Ketchup
3. Northern Ireland: Cinnamon
4. East Anglia: Orange Juice
5. London: Brown Sugar

Smart Cities

The cities where people can remember the most recipes from memory

1. Aberystwyth- 14 recipes
2. Swansea, Plymouth & York – 12 recipes
3. Edinburgh, Sheffield & Wrexham, - 11 recipes
4. Belfast, Cambridge, Leicester, London, Manchester, Wolverhampton - 10 recipes
5. Aberdeen, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle – 9 recipes

Adventurous Eaters

The cities where people are most likely to have tried a new recipe in the past week

1. Aberystwyth
2. Wrexham
3. Edinburgh
4. Birmingham
5. Liverpool

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A nation of aspiring foodies stick in a nine-meal rut