Rupari Food Services, South Holland, Ill., conducted a survey assessing consumer behaviors and attitudes about evening routines.

The survey found on average families spend only 14 minutes eating dinner each night, while they spend more than double that time planning, prepping and cleaning up after dinner. The same survey revealed 75% of parents feel frustrated when they aren’t able to spend time with their family at night.

Other key findings from the survey include:

Consumer attitudes toward dinner:

·         70% of parents said they would rather spend quality time with family than spend it preparing dinner.

·         67% of parents wish they had more go-to weekday meal options that were easy and everyone would enjoy.

·         63% of parents say they need convenient dinner options because the week is so busy.

·         61% said making dinner and cleaning up afterwards isn’t something they look forward to.

·         47% of parents eat out more often than they would like to due to the need for convenience.

Consumer attitudes toward their time:

·         75% of parents feel guilty when they don’t spend time with family at night.

·         65% said they wish they had more freedom to do things they want to do in the evenings.

In March, Rupari Food Services refreshed its Tony Roma’s brand of pre-cooked refrigerated meats with redesigned packaging that can be cooked in the oven or microwave without ever having to transfer the meat to a separate cooking dish.

“We started thinking about how we can help consumers spend less time in the kitchen and more time at the table. We decided to redesign our products to cut down on the time they have to spend preparing and cleaning up after dinner,” says Kristin Kroepfl, vice president of retail marketing. “We’re so pleased to give consumers a dinner option that decreases prep and cleanup time, giving families the freedom to enjoy time with each other at the kitchen table.”

This survey was conducted online among 1,000 U.S. consumers.