The percentage of consumers buying prepared foods most frequently (once a week or more often) more than doubled from November (15%) to May (33%), and the percentage buying them two or three times a month went from about a quarter (27%) to a third (33%). Meanwhile, in November, two of five consumers (40%) reported purchasing prepared foods less often than once a month but in May, that rate was halved, to about one of five (18%).

These numbers are the strongest they’ve been since Technomic began tracking prepared foods purchases in November of 2007.