February 2022
Kitchens are becoming less relevant. Today, they may serve more of a food storeroom or lunchroom role than gathering place for friends and family.
Condominiums without a full kitchen are now readily available. Many no longer include a stove which creates more space for other purposes.
Younger generations view the kitchen differently. They are home less frequently and spend less time in the kitchen. Restaurant food delivery is the new normal for many. Those preferring to “prepare” meals purchase “kits” complete with instructions. Dark kitchens, which don’t include a dining area, have sprouted to serve this market. Technology currently in use can prepare meals and manage orders for delivery to customers at a lower cost than home meal preparation for a single person.
Supermarkets are adapting by offering more prepared meal options. They recognize that consumers spend less time in the kitchen preparing meals and provide choices for them.
Kitchens may soon exist only as a place where someone else prepares food for delivery to the home where it may be reheated. While this may seem outlandish to some, it wasn’t that long ago when the sewing machine was a basic necessity. Today few have seen or know how to use one.
