8 Kitchen Items Going Extinct: Are Any Still in Your Home?
Home tech trends make the transition from “must-have” to “huh?” in what seems like the blink of an eye. Used your VCR lately? How about your camcorder or home fax machine? Still chatting on landline phones? Or rocking out with your trusty but dusty CD player?
In the kitchen, the process of change is no less inexorable, but not quite as obvious. Sometimes a product vanishes from our cabinets and countertops so gradually, we don’t even realize it’s on the outs until it’s gone … and there’s no hope of replacement.
To clue you in, here are some items that may be lingering in your kitchen (and probably Grandma’s) but may not be long for this world. We guess it’s up to you to decide whether to cut bait or stock up before they’re gone for good.
Frozen dinners
Hungry, man?
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Raise your hand if you grew up watching TV with that great ’50s-era breakthrough: TV dinners! Who doesn’t have memories of a freezer stockpiled with Swanson turkey dinners or Hungry-Man Salisbury steak? Back then, they were even cooked in the oven (gasp!).
Today, TV dinners still exist, but they’ve evolved into a different and generally healthier animal (think Lean Cuisine Thai-style chicken breast). Plus, no one calls them “TV dinners.” Still, since frozen dinners don’t seem as, well, fresh as regular food, they’re slowly disappearing from our freezers, with sales down 14% since 2012, says Susan Viamari, vice president of thought leadership for Chicago-based market research firm IRI.
Coffee filters
Coffee filters are for drips
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Whether they take their morning joe black or with cream and sugar, Americans have been stockpiling paper coffee filters for as long as they’ve been brewing coffee at home. But sales of coffee filters have been declining over the past few years due to the rise of single-serve coffee pods. They may be bad for the environment, but (like with bottled water) consumers still love them for their convenience. Another possible reason: the rise of the French press. Vive le café!
Frozen orange juice concentrate
Fresh?
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You may have fond childhood memories of your dad magically transforming a can of frozen-solid orange juice concentrate into a pitcher of frosty beverage, but this staple has fallen way out of favor in recent years. For one, the price of fresh juice has dropped to within reach of most consumers. Moreover, many folks are abstaining from juice in general because of its high sugar content, which is bad for cavity-prone kids and weight-conscious adults alike.
Families today are splurging on boutique green juice made from kale or spinach, or invested in their own high-end juicer and are making their own fruit-and-greens smoothies at home.
As Viamari notes, “Consumers want to feel that they’re providing their families with fresh, home-cooked food and drinks.”
Powder dishwashing detergent
How much is too much?
Greg Chow
Loading up a dishwasher was once seen as an amazing labor saver in the kitchen. No more hand-washing! There was just one catch—you had to measure out the detergent, typically in powder form, and put it into the machine. What a drag!
Today, you can just pop in a pod or a pack. It’s known in the industry as “unit-dose detergent,” and by the end of 2015, Nielsen/IRI statistics show 70% of all dishwasher detergent sales were in tab or pack form. Consumers may prefer them because they tend to leave less of a mess. We are, after all, trying to clean up.
Margarine
I Can Believe It’s Not Butter
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A decade or two ago, butter was seen as anything but healthy. Instead, whether we were baking batches of our family’s favorite chocolate chip cookies or serving broccoli with dinner, we would reach for margarine, an imitation-butter spread made from vegetable oils. But as consumers become aware of the unhealthy effects of hydrogenated fats, the market for margarine and such products as “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!” has shrunk drastically, according to a 2016 report from Unilever.
Sugar cereal
They’reeeee Great! (if you like a ton of sugar)
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Most kids born before the turn of the millennium can remember plucking the pastel-colored marshmallows out of their Lucky Charms, or digging around in their box of Cap’n Crunch for a prize. But this onetime breakfast staple is now fighting a steep decline, says Viamari.
“Consumers want more portability [and] more protein to stay fuller longer,” she explains. And oh yeah, less sugar. Is nothing sacred?
Processed cheese
Make American cheese grate again
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Back in the day, you’d grab a spray can of cheese and a box of Ritz crackers and go to town. And no ham sandwich, packed with love by your mom to take to school in your superhero-covered tin lunchbox, would be complete without a slice of eternally flexible American cheese. But in 2017, these extremely processed dairy products are rapidly going extinct.
According to the International Dairy Foods Association, consumption levels of processed cheese products are at their lowest since these products were first introduced in 1974. Today, more people want their cheese in as “natural” a form as possible.
Canned foods
Only “health-conscious” if you’re preparing for the apocalypse.
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Uh-oh: The bell has rung for SpaghettiOs and other comfort foods in a can. In 2014, ConAgra announced their sales volume was down 7%, and it faced “continued profit challenges” due to fewer sales of products like its Chef Boyardee canned pasta. The reason? You guessed it, health-conscious consumers prefer their food fresh. A major part of our childhood just died.
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