Fresh bread revealed as the UK’s favourite food scent

. 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 make a house feel like a home. 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:

City	Favourite food scent
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