Air fryers have gone mainstream

It seems ovens and opinionated uncles aren’t the only things blowing hot air in American kitchens. An estimated 60% of US households now own an air fryer, according to Adam Graves, president of Nestle US’s pizza and snacks division. That’s up from roughly 36% in 2020.

♨️ Background: The device, which first debuted at a major consumer electronics fair in Berlin in 2010, has quite a relatable origin story. Fred van der Weij, its inventor, was just looking for a way to crisp a French fry without deep-frying them. Alternative methods for making fries at home took too long, and turned out blah. A convection oven, for example, dried them out.

But combining close-range radiation with increased air flow seemed to do the trick. Thus, the air fryer was born – and it’s gotten pretty popular since then.

• In 2022, the air fryer leapfrogged over grills and multicookers to become the No. 4 cooking appliance, according to the NPD Group.
• Air frying has now become the second-most popular way to heat up frozen prepared foods, CNBC reports.

📸 Big picture: Americans spent ~$1 billion buying air fryers last year. And food brands are starting to lean in.

Some Nestle products, like Hot Pockets, now include air fryer cooking instructions alongside directions for heating up in the microwave and oven. Tyson Foods launched its own air-fried line in 2019. And Kellogg’s started including air fryer instructions for its plant-based Morningstar Farms products in early 2021, in response to customer inquiries.