Bye, bye American pie: Desserts are disappearing

Americans have become too lazy – and, perhaps, too cheap – to eat dessert.

That is the unappetizing conclusion of an analysis by the research firm NPD Group of declining dinner-time dessert consumption nationally. The analysis is from its 29th annual "Eating Patterns in America" report, which tracks the daily eating habits of 5,000 consumers in 2,000 households.

Americans simply aren't eating dessert like they used to. Only 12 percent of dinners eaten at home include a dessert. That is down from 15 percent 10 years ago. And its way down from the 24 percent of Americans who said they had dessert with dinner back in 1986.

"If this trend continues, desserts may entirely disappear from the dinner table," says an only half-jesting Harry Balzer, senior vice president and chief food industry analyst at NPD. "We are on target to serve the last dessert on Feb. 27, 2054," he says, with a wink.

For food makers and food sellers, however, there is nothing funny here. It's not that the famous American sweet tooth is disappearing – or that we're suddenly more concerned about our nutrition, Balzer says. No, he says, Americans are trying to simplify the whole eating process. The easiest way to simplify is to eliminate – and the easiest thing to eliminate at dinner is dessert.

"The trend in American homes is about one-dish meals. Americans have been steadily cutting back the number of items served at a main meal and dessert ranks 4th on the list for a meal after the main dish, vegetable and starch. Having dessert makes the whole meal more complicated," he says.

And we're not just talking about made-from-scratch desserts, either. Desserts include a scoop of ice cream, a hunk of cake or even a cookie. But the very process of obtaining, preparing and cleaning-up after that dessert seems burdensome enough that Americans are increasingly avoiding it.

"Dessert adds to the effort of making a meal," Balzer says. "You have to prepare it and clean up, plus it adds to the cost of the meal. It's one more thing Americans are learning to do without."

Sad to say, the dessert decline has nothing to do with nutritional concerns, Balzer says. In fact, Americans are snacking more than ever – and most of those snacks are not very healthy.

The dessert decline is affecting all age groups, Balzer says, including adults over age 65, who are typically the heaviest dessert eaters. For the year ending February 2014, people over 65 ate 76 desserts per person per year at home. In 2,000, they ate 104 desserts per person per year at home.

In-home dinners with dessert are becoming downright rare. For folks age 55 and up, that number has declined from 35 percent in 1984 to 19 percent last year. For consumers 34 to 54, it's declined from 22 percent to 10 percent. And for 18 to 34-year-olds, the number has shrunk from 17 percent to 9 percent. That means nine in 10 Millennials are not having dessert with dinner.

When we do eat dessert, however, the top three remain rather boring: fruit, cake and ice cream.

So, is Betty Crocker in trouble?

Perhaps.

"Americans want cooking to become a recreation or hobby," he says. "Not a daily job."