The death of the middle class kitchen? Sales of Le Creuset, Aga cookers and Farrow & Ball wallpaper plummet as families replace old staples amid cost of living crisis

Sales of luxury kitchen and homeware brands have plummeted as the cost of living crisis continues to bite - with Aga cookers, Le Creuset cookware and Farrow & Ball wallpaper among the goods falling out of favour.

Accounts for firms specialising in premium home products show, in some cases, a double digit decline in sales to the end of 2022, with no designer brand seemingly immune to the tightening of British wallets.

Experts believe, however, that people may also be spending their money elsewhere - such as in the backrooms of their houses, where 'utility rooms' are becoming the norm and having two dishwashers has become an unconventional aspiration.

Sales figures elsewhere might even suggest people are opting for cheaper, easier methods of cooking as more demands are made on their time - with sales at firms selling boiling water taps and air fryers on the rise.

There is also the matter of new competitors coming to market, taking on - and undercutting - the likes of Le Creuset at their own game. There is potential for an almighty shake-up of Britain's kitchens.

A look at the financial statements of some of Britain's best-loved luxury home brands reveals that spending habits around the house are changing. 

Le Creuset - renowned for its colourful but pricey cast-iron enameled cookware - reported that sales to December 2022 fell nearly 20 per cent from £59.39million to £47.97m.

Managing director Nick Evans told directors: 'The retail trading environment is expected to remain difficult throughout the next few years as the cost-of-living crisis continues.'

He added that demand for top-notch pots remains high as people cook more at home - but warned that 'changing consumer spending coupled with inflationary pressures', along with the cost of living crisis, will continue to squeeze sales.

Elsewhere Aga Rangemaster, makers of legendary range cookers beloved by the middle classes - the cheapest, the Aga 60, costs £7,000 - has reported a 6.4 per cent drop in sales from £154.53m to £144.58m.

The firm blamed 'challenging market conditions' for the dip; it also laid off nearly eight percent of its staff. Despite this, it says its order book is 'looking healthy for the future'.

Farrow & Ball - luxury wallpaper producers and purveyors of eccentrically named paint - has also reported a small drop in sales, estimated to be around three per cent.

Sales were just short of £101m in 2022 - a decrease, the company says, compared to figures for the last nine months of 2021 - and were pinned on the end of the pandemic decorating boom that emerged as people stayed at home.

Other brands have already been claimed by the tough market conditions.

British brand Cath Kidston fell into administration in 2022 due to what administrator Zelf Hussain of PwC called 'incredibly challenging market conditions...most recently the decline in consumer spending driven by cost of living pressures'.

It was plucked from the void by Next for £8.5m - one of several designer brands to be saved from a complete collapse by the retailer, alongside the UK operations of Gap and Victoria's Secret.

But while some top-line brands have suffered a dip in sales or disappeared altogether, others are enjoying booming trade. 'Utility' rooms and pantries are in - and with them come double dishwashers and boiling water taps.

Fiona McKenzie Johnston, House & Garden magazine’s Agony Aunt, told The Telegraph: 'I don’t think the middle-class kitchen is dying. (There is now) an increased emphasis on back-of-house rooms – so, other rooms that go with kitchens, like pantries and laundry rooms and those sorts of things.'

If social media is any measure, back rooms are booming: on TikTok, #pantry has 1.1billion views, while other similar tags have millions more views apiece. 

Financial statements tell a similar story. Quooker, which makes boiling water taps perfect for a utility room sink, has seen sales rise nearly 14 per cent year-on-year.

There is also the matter of competitors sizing up to take on the larger, pricier brands: Our Place, which makes Instagram-friendly cookware, could be stealing some of Le Creuset's thunder.

It manufactures an all-in-one pan called the Always Pan 2.0, which ranges from £105 to £155 depending on the size and claims to cover all manner of cooking from boiling to baking and frying and everything in between.

At a fraction of the cost of a set of Le Creusets, it could become the mainstay of many a kitchen when cash is tight - and while Our Place's UK division is so small it doesn't report profit or loss, its value has more than doubled from £2.25m to £5.84m in the space of a year.

Other middle-market brands are also faring better: Joseph Joseph, known for its diverse range of designer kitchenware, says revenues remained steady at £48.3m to May 2022, down from £48.5m the year before.

And in the age of the air fryer, SharkNinja - which produces the Ninja range of kitchen top cookers - has reported a 15 per cent rise in sales across Europe.

So is the middle class kitchen dead? Maybe not - but as Brits continue to wrestle with their finances day in, day out, it's certainly going through some changes.