Why Does Food Mean So Much To Us During A Pandemic and How Can We Use That In The Future?
Food has this incredible way of bringing everyone together. From our shared mutual love (or hatred) for flavours, pairings and textures; the microcosm, communities and techniques that have been hand-passed down through the generations onto which we have stapled or earmarked our memories onto our best loved recipes. Have you ever wondered why the scent of your favourite chip-shop bring back visions of your beloved beach holiday jaunts or the bite into that first crisped roast potato dipped in gravy has you longing for Christmas festivities or Sunday roasts with friends and family? And why do we hold on to food as a lifeline when things turn sour? Isabel Lydall - the Founder and Insight Director at Curiosity and Clarity a small business researcher who finds joy in finding what makes people tick might just hold all the clues. Food is a powerful tool in encapsulating memory and once you have learnt how to crack the code, you can tailor these skills into invoking happier memories in the future… even when things seem a little uncertain.
What are some of your most vivid childhood memories? I’m willing to bet many of them include food. For me, it’s the smell of shortbread baking in my great-grandmother’s kitchen, chips with salt and vinegar on daytrips to Southend-on-sea, the Milkybar after swimming lessons. My mum’s steamed chocolate pudding. Our annual breakfast at the Chicklade Little Chef on the way to Cornwall for our summer holiday - I can still see the sheep grazing on the steep hill opposite.
We don’t just eat for fuel. We eat for comfort, and to seek out new sensory experiences. For big celebrations which bring us together with our loved ones and to celebrate the kids finally being asleep. To feel good about ourselves, physically and mentally. And for pure indulgence. We snack to break up a routine day, or as a much-loved daily ritual. Snacks are as essential to a long train journey as something to read… and we so often eat together as we simultaneously fall in love.
Eating one of the first things we learn to do for ourselves - and one of the last skills we lose.
We don’t just shop and cook to provide energy for people. It's love and nurture. It’s happy kids. It’s knowing what people love, and spending time creating it for them. Its passing down culture and family traditions through the generations. It’s creative and it’s about showing the world our skills (searching out a rare ingredient or mastering a tricky skill is a bit like a modern version of hunter-gathering).
During the recent COVID-19 crisis, we’ve seen food in the foreground of people’s lives, from stockpiling, to the increased support for food-banks and freedom-fighting for free school meals. And in emotional times such as these, and other turmoils, people turn to food - from lockdown baking, to quarantinis, searching out and supporting local suppliers and falling back in love with scratch cooking. They crave the familiarity of McDonalds and KFC.
The Sunday before lockdown we went over to see my parents - knowing it would be a while before we saw them again - and my mum served up roast lamb and steamed chocolate pudding - love, nurturing, childhood memories, togetherness, all quietly packed into a family meal. One that words would never be enough to say, but the food said it all.
Our senses, emotions and memories are intertwined and food has the ability to fire up all three, forging close connections with other humans. Food has the power to take us to a place, a time or a person - and the emotions that go with that. And - according to neuroscience - emotions help imprint memories. So by making food experiences emotional, we can create stronger bonds and stronger memories for ourselves. It’s something we do instinctively - and sometimes consciously - in our own lives. It’s something that our most-loved food brands know and we buy into. They create a connection with their consumers - and get themselves remembered - by tapping into the right occasions and the emotions that go with them.
Sometimes these are brands with heritage - Bisto has taken a simple household commodity and linked the product’s sensory experience - the meaty smell, the steam, the comforting food it goes alongside - and linked it to feelings of family togetherness and positive memories, giving it an emotional resonance and brand strength that bats far above its competition (I mean, can you name another gravy mix?!)
Galaxy chocolate taps into those precious minutes of grabbed me-time during the day (or at the end of the day), mostly, for women. It is entirely about relaxation and a moment of smoothness and calm - played out in its sensory experience, brand design, its marketing and advertising.
Or Pimm’s with its associations of quintessentially English, slightly giddy upper-middle-class summer parties, which plays out in their strawberry-cucumber-mint mixing ritual, and their advertising line ‘It’s Pimms o’clock!’. It’s all about high heels getting stuck in the grass and friends coming together to chatter and celebrate.
Heritage brands already have memories to pull on - but it’s something all brands can access. Gü puds know that they’re about closeness, indulgence, intimate - possibly candlelit-dinners at home… and therefore both relaxation and relationships - and their whole product is designed around making that experience as good as it can be, perfect for one person, or two. This occasion, emotion and memory linkage powers everything successful food brands do - from what you see in their marketing communications, the look and feel of their brand - and the sensory experience they create with their food all the way through to the last bite.
And it’s the same in the real world too - in the world of eating out - the great restaurants, whether they’re independents or chains, high end or for family fun - this idea shines through everything from the menu, the décor, the service and everything in between. They know the occasions, relationships, and needs they feed, and they know the emotions that go alongside them and it’s what gets us to part with our money and rebook somewhere familiar.
But did you know that it’s something you can bring into your own life! Think about what food occasions matter to you and the people you care about and what you want people to remember, and to care about long after the night is over. And start implementing these small routines into these everyday memories. It’s very often about the small things - that same after-school snack or family pizza nights, the Friday night glass of wine and crisp pairing that start the weekend - as well as the big set-piece parties or get-togethers… To borrow a phrase… ‘this is not just any food…’ use it to your advantage and start creating these memories you love and adore - you will then be able to borrow those memories at a moment’s notice and make the world seem a little less grey.
Isabel has many years’ experience in the food industry, growing brands by understanding how people live and how they shop, eat and feel about food.