Grandma hobbies and the kitchen-witch movement: what the data says
Grandma hobbies and the kitchen-witch movement are two overlapping trends reshaping food and craft content on TikTok and Pinterest. "Grandma hobbies" are analogue crafts such as knitting, crochet, needlepoint and embroidery, reframed by Gen Z and millennials. The kitchen-witch movement covers herbalism, fermentation, canning and ritualised home cooking, often with a witchy or folk-practice look.
The data behind them is unusually strong for a lifestyle trend, and it is showing up in sales, not just in feeds. I've pulled the evidence together in a free report. This post gives you the headlines, my take on what it means for brands, and the full report to download and share.
Key takeaways
Pinterest searches for "herbal apothecary" are up 595% year on year, with homemade spice blends up 209% and kombucha SCOBY recipes up 201% (Pinterest 2026 Hobbies Trend Report, via LBB).
Google searches for "analog hobbies" rose 160% in 30 days, a spike that began in January 2026 (Google Trends, via TODAY and NBC Los Angeles).
#bonebroth has nearly 300 million TikTok views, and Waitrose reported bone broth sales up 48% in three months (John Lewis Partnership).
86% of Gen Z now identify as crafters, and 71% of Gen Z and millennials want to join a craft club (Mintel via WSJ, Yahoo Life).
My take: it isn't nostalgia, it's usefulness. People are searching for the skill, not just the look.
What is the kitchen-witch movement?
Pinterest named "Kitchen Witch" one of nine defining hobby trends in its 2026 Hobbies Trend Report. It defines it as turning the kitchen into a space for everyday "me time": fermenting, infusing, preserving, baking, growing herbs, making candles and "finding a reason to keep every nice glass jar" (Elle Decor).
In practice it covers preserving, fermenting, batch cooking, pantry stocking, mending, crafting, growing herbs and making things last. The name is playful. The behaviour is practical.
How the trend evolved
2020 to 2021, cottagecore: a Gen Z and millennial subculture centred on rural life and slow living. The pandemic sourdough boom seeded a lasting interest in from-scratch cooking (Wikipedia).
2021 to 2023, grandmacore: emerged on TikTok and spread into crafts, vintage decor and nostalgic lifestyle. #grandmacore has passed 251 million TikTok views (Asia Business Daily).
2024 to 2025, analogue hobbies go mainstream: TikTok posts tagged #needlepoint rose 400% in the first ten months of 2024 (Axios).
2025 to 2026, kitchen witch and nonna-maxxing: the kitchen became the focal point. "Nonna-maxxing" Google searches jumped 700% after one viral Instagram post (Forbes).
What the search data shows
Pinterest's Kitchen Witch search growth, year on year (LBB, corroborated by Yahoo Life, BHG and Daily Hive):
Herbal apothecary: +595%
How to make beeswax wraps: +250%
Homemade spice blends: +209%
Kombucha SCOBY recipes: +201%
Candle making tutorial: +118%
Strawberry lemonade concentrate canning: +110%
Fermenting recipes: +106%
Look at the verbs behind these: make, blend, ferment, preserve. People are searching for the skill, not just the look.
The same pattern appears across Google. Searches for "analog hobbies" have risen more than 1,300% over the past year (Quartz), and "grandma hobbies", "how to start a cross stitch pattern" and "is knitting or crochet easier" were all breakout searches (Google blog).
Is it turning into sales?
Yes. This is what separates it from a purely aesthetic cycle.
Waitrose: bone broth sales up 48% in three months; "bone broth" site searches up 163% year on year (John Lewis Partnership).
John Lewis: beginner crochet hook sales up 170% (SW Londoner).
Michaels: guided craft-kit sales up 86% in 2025, and yarn accessory sales up 40% year on year (Michaels Press Room, BHG).
Etsy: "beginner needlepoint items" searches up 208% year on year (NBC Los Angeles).
Shopify: cross-stitch pattern sales up 89% year on year in May (WSJ via To Vima).
Who is driving it?
The centre of gravity is Gen Z and younger millennials, mostly women, with real spillover to older shoppers. 70% of 13 to 24-year-olds are actively seeking more offline activities (YPulse, via Dainik Jagran), and 51% of Gen Z say they "like" or "love" meal preparation, versus 46% of shoppers overall (FMI). The UK, US and Canada are the top regions for #bonebroth on TikTok (TikTok Creative Center).
Why now?
The sources point to the same drivers: digital fatigue, wellness, nostalgia, cost of living, sustainability and community. My reading of the signals comes down to five:
Cost pressure: making it yourself feels like a way to stretch the budget.
Anti-waste: using things up, preserving and keeping them for longer.
Digital fatigue: hands busy, phone down.
Wellbeing: slow, repetitive tasks that people describe as calming.
Practical control: one part of life that feels manageable.
These five are my interpretation, not measured data. No one survey ranks them, so test which matters most to your shopper.
What it means for brands
Don't sell the aesthetic. Sell the usefulness. Soft-focus cottage shoots and "simpler times" nostalgia miss the point. Show how it's done, how it saves time, money or waste, and how it fits a real kitchen. For some people this is a choice. For others, money is tight. Don't romanticise the hardship. Respect the effort and make it easier.
Food: staples, spices, jars and kit for batch cooking and preserving. Recipes that use up what's left.
Home care: refill, reuse and make-it-last products, with clear how-to instructions.
Wellness: rituals and ingredients people want to understand. Explain sourcing and use. No health promises.
Craft: an easy first project. Starter kits and small wins before big ones.
Every category has the same job here: make the skill easier to start, and the product the obvious tool for it.
Content that works
The winning formats make slow processes watchable and participatory: before-and-after mends, real kitchens rather than styled sets, recipe cards, storage guidance and saveable checklists. This is how-to territory. Make content people come back to when they're actually doing it.
Frequently asked questions
What are grandma hobbies?
Grandma hobbies are traditional analogue crafts and home skills, such as knitting, crochet, needlepoint, embroidery, baking and preserving, that younger generations have taken up, often as a break from screens. The "grandma hobbies" search term surfaces over 11 million TikTok posts (Bustle).
Is the kitchen-witch trend a fad?
The evidence points to durability. Pinterest's trend forecasts have historically been about 80% accurate, rising to 88% for its 2026 predictions (Fortune), and retail sales data from Waitrose, Michaels, Etsy and Shopify back up the search growth. The steepest percentages come off small bases, so read them as direction rather than exact scale.
When does the trend peak?
It shows strong autumn and New Year seasonality. The analogue-hobbies spike began in January 2026, and kitchen-witch content peaks around Halloween and the September 2026 release of Practical Magic 2, which Pinterest partnered with Warner Bros. on (LBB).
Which brands can use this trend?
Food and drink, home care, wellness and craft brands all have a role. The opportunity is the same in each: make a skill easier to start and make your product the obvious tool for it.
Download the full report
The free report includes the full Pinterest and TikTok data, Google Trends and retail evidence, the demographic breakdown, content formats, growth drivers, implications for brands, and links to every source. Download it, or share this page with your team.
About the author
I'm Tina Thompson, founder and head of strategy at Sweet Spot. I help consumer brands find what's missing and know what to back next. I'm a former Digital Director at leading shopper, experiential and marketing agencies, where I led consumer strategy, digital and social for brands including Mondelez, Unilever and Coca-Cola, and I have 20+ years' experience across consumer brands, shopper, digital, eCommerce, experiential and strategy.
Want to know what this trend, or any other shift in your category, means for your brand? Book a free 30-minute discovery call → No pitch, no pressure.
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