• Wren Kitchens has conducted research to reveal the UK’s favourite food scents
• Fresh bread came in first place with over a third (36%) of Brits voting it as their favourite
• The research also revealed the reasons why Brits can’t get enough of certain food aromas
From the scent of fresh pastries to the mouth-watering sensation of fried bacon travelling through the air, the smell of food can really bring us joy. But what are the UK’s favourite food scents and why do we love them so much?
Wren Kitchens has conducted a survey* to reveal the nation’s favourite food smells. The study also broke down the research by city to reveal which parts of the UK prefer the smell of sizzling bacon in comparison to freshly roasted chicken.
The UK’s top three favourite food scents:
1. Fresh Bread (36%)
2. Coffee (31%) and Bacon (31%)
3. Fish and chips (26%)
Over a third of Brits voted the delicious smell of fresh bread as their favourite food scent. This was closely followed by coffee and bacon which both came in a joint second. Finally, in third place was the humble meal of fish & chips, suggesting that a fresh fish supper with salt and vinegar has lots of noses twitching in the UK!
Favourite food scents by city:
Belfast – Roasted chicken (34%)
Birmingham – Fresh bread (30%)
Brighton – Fresh bread (44%)
Bristol – Fresh bread (38%)
Cardiff – Bacon (43%)
Edinburgh – Fish and chips (39%)
Glasgow – Bacon (41%)
Leeds – Fresh bread (47%)
Liverpool – Coffee (49%)
London – Fresh bread (34%)
Manchester – Bacon (32%)
Newcastle – Fresh bread (36%)
Norwich – Coffee (42%)
Nottingham – Fresh bread (36%)
Plymouth – Fresh bread (36%)
Sheffield – Coffee (43%)
Southampton – Fresh bread (46%)
Similar to the overall UK vote, fresh bread came at the top of the list for the majority of cities including London, Newcastle and Birmingham. However, the study revealed that the people of Cardiff, Glasgow and Manchester love the smell of sizzling bacon the most!
Liverpool and Norwich voted coffee as their favourite smell whilst the people of Edinburgh claimed that the scent of fish and chips was at the top of their list.
Finally, the only city with roast chicken as their favourite was Belfast.
The reason behind Brits love for these scents
But why is it that Brits truly love these smells? According to research, scientists believe that smell and memory have a close connection because of the anatomy of the brain. Therefore, Wren Kitchen’s research suggests that it’s likely that many Brits have positive associations with the smell of fresh baked bread, roasted chicken and fish and chips.
It’s also been revealed that the chemical makeup of these foods, such as bacon, likely contains lots of aromatic compounds that make them smell irresistible.
To find out more about the UK’s favourite food scents visit: https://www.wrenkitchens.com/blog/the-uks-favourite-food-scents
Sources –
*1 Survey conducted by Censuswide on behalf of Wren Kitchen, May 2022, 1000 respondents.
**2 https://www.verywellmind.com/why-do-we-associate-memories-so-strongly-with-specific-smells-5203963#:~:text=Scientists%20believe%20that%20smell%20and,very%20vivid%20when%20it%20happens.
*** https://happyfoodhealth.com/which-chemicals-make-your-food-irresistible/
About Wren Kitchens
Wren Kitchens is the UK’s largest manufacturer and retailer of kitchens and stone worktops. Launched in 2009, Wren Kitchens is a family business which employs over 7,200 people across its sites and is one of the largest employers in the Humber Region. For the last two years Wren Kitchens has been recognised as the best place to work in the UK by indeed. Wren provides the best value in the market to its customers. It makes bespoke kitchens at flat pack prices and offers a price match on all appliances, together with market-leading, interest-free finance options. In 2020 Wren Kitchens opened its first U.S. showroom in Milford, Connecticut. Wren makes every one of its kitchens for the US market at its state-of-the-art 252,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
