America’s kitchens are in high use, according to Campbell’s

It turns out your mom was right—you do have food at the house.

US consumers are zipping past fast-food restaurants and cooking at home at the highest rate since early 2020, when the pandemic first started, according to Campbell's, who released an earnings report on Monday that indicates shoppers are pulling back from impulsive snacking and focused on finding more value in the grocery aisle.

• The company—whose snack brands include Goldfish, Snyder’s pretzels, and Cape Cod chips—saw snack sales slip 5% in the last three months.
• Meanwhile, sales of its meals and beverages rose 6%, mainly driven by Rao’s pasta sauces and soup sales in the US.

This tracks with other data: In a recent NIQ survey, 42% of consumers reported buying snacks less, and 37% said they’re searching harder for deals.

Along the same vein: Chipotle and McDonald’s most-recent earnings show Americans are increasingly resisting the temptation of queso and driving by the omnipresent Golden Arches. At the same time, bargain retailers are on the rise, such as Dollar General, whose stock turned in its biggest intraday gain since May 2022 yesterday after reporting record quarterly sales and raising its outlook.

Zoom out: The cost of out-of-home dining was up 3.9% YoY in April, federal data shows, while at-home food prices rose just 2% over the same period, slower than inflation overall.