A phenomenological study of home baking: The ‘Rebirth of Romanticism’ and the rise of the craft consumer

Home baking is very popular in the UK: in 2007 sales of home baking products totalled £457m and in 2010, the estimated revenue from home baking was £576m (Mintel, 2010). Why is home baking so popular? The emergence of the phenomenon seems to be due to a number of factors. Campbell (2005) suggests that in late modern capitalist societies we have seen the gradual development of craft consumption (a category that would include home baking alongside DIY and gardening), since this provides ‘an oasis of personal self-expression and authenticity in what is an ever-widening ‘desert’ of commodification and marketisation’ (p37). Whilst Gray (2011) argues that there is a resurgence of a romantic ideal linked to the historic Romanticism period, which is driving contemporary consumption. Thus, contemporary consumers are actively seeking and increasingly valuing tradition, authenticity, creativity and self-expression, nature and simplicity, and we would suggest that home baking provides a context in which consumers are able to fulfil such desires.