Habitat announces that homeowners are ditching plates for this dining trend in 2023

Fan of bowl dining? Well it turns out you're not alone as Habitat revealed in its latest trend report that more and more people are ditching plates for bowl dining and the trend is set to continue into the new year.

In a recent panel discussion with TikTok and YesColours, Habitat revealed their home predictions for the upcoming year. Based on their insights, they've gathered that plates look to be losing their status place on the dining room table in favour of the best plate bowls – and other retailers are seeing the trend come into effect too.

There's nothing quite like winding down with a home-cooked meal in hand. And with many using the seasonal sales as an opportunity to upgrade their kitchen ideas, it doesn't hurt to look at dinnerware too.

Habitat predicts 'bowl dining' for 2023

Habitat said in the report that 'a variety of food trends are emerging, breaking down the barriers of formal dining and encouraging a more relaxed approach to tablescaping.' The switch from plates to bowl dining is a key part of that.

'We’re embracing a more tactile, Mediterranean-style approach to eating that places sensory experiences and comfort at its core, enhanced by dopamine-inducing colours that stimulate joy and bring conversation to the table. Bowls are now the tableware of choice for meals, surpassing plates, to enable more informal and communal dining habits.'

Sarah Savery-Smith, brand director at ProCook supports the bowl dining micro-trend saying, 'For the generation that is always on the go, there is nothing more enticing than a one-pot meal.'

'With this convenient cooking method proving increasingly popular, high-sided tableware such as pasta bowls has become the preferred choice thanks to their practical shape for serving comforting, sauce-based meals such as stew, chilli and pasta. At ProCook the stats support this trend, with bowl sales increasing by 300% between 2021 and 2022.'

I'm a bowl diner myself, primarily eating all of my meals out of a bowl when and where I can. It's a habit that was formed out of convenience when I was still at university, because who wants to wash big, clunky plates every day when you're a student? But afterwards, it sort of just stuck and I haven't looked back since.

Although my bowl dining habit was initially formed out of convenience, it challenged the way I looked at food and dining as a whole. Being able to cosy up on the sofa while I binge Netflix with just a bowl in hand allowed my dining experience to feel more intimate and cosy. It's also my preferred way of dining during the colder months because the hot food in the bowl helps to warm my hands up, so it's a win-win in my book!

As we emerge into the bowl dining micro-trend predicted for 2023, it's also important to understand that this isn't just a wishy-washy buy-the-cheapest bowl on the market kind of thing, but is a dining lifestyle worth investing in.

Recently, Sarah Savery-Smith at ProCook has observed 'people choosing to step away from the 'fast homeware' market, opting to shop mindfully and consider the durability, quality, and longevity of products that they will have in their homes and use daily for years to come. Investing in quality-assured dinnerware is both a sustainable choice and a smart shopping decision, saving both money and the planet through less waste in the long run.'

Andrew Tanner, head of design at Habitat explains that, 'This more relaxed way of dining is a nod to how food can be shared for relaxed, easy eating alone or with friends and family, and there’s a tactility around bowl eating that you don’t get with formal plating.' And this isn't to say that formal dining should no longer happen, but instead, being able to employ a variety of dinnerware to 'support diverse culinary moments.'

Will you be ditching plates and opting to try out the bowl dining micro-trend this upcoming year?