Thanks to Covid-19 restrictions, New Zealanders have been busy online shopping - and there’s one kitchen commodity in particular that’s been in hot demand.
Online interest in air fryers has skyrocketed up 285 per cent compared to the same time last year, according to data from price comparison website PriceSpy.
Cam Turner bought one for his family just one day after the country went into Alert Level 4.
“We’ve used it literally every day since we’ve got it just because it’s so easy,” he said.
Online retailer Mighty Ape says it's seen a sharp increase in the sale of air fryers.
“It’s been popular for a while - all year, in fact, more so during the lockdown - so we’ve seen the sales of air fryers triple,” Mighty Ape chief of sales and marketing, Grace Mackinlay, said.
But Consumer NZ is urging Kiwis to do their research before rushing to buy one for themselves.
The watchdog’s test content team leader, James le Page, says there’s a significant difference in performance between the best and worst air fryers.
“They put out a lot of heat and they’re only a small little appliance and if you say, put them on a benchtop that can’t handle it or too close to a wall, you can do some damage to your paint or your surfaces,” he said.
The surge in popularity has been spurred on by social media.
“There is almost a cult following in some of the Facebook fan pages,” said PriceSpy's Liisa Matinvesi-Bassett.
Turner admits seeing air fryer content online definitely played a part in his decision to buy one.
“Obviously air fryers have been a huge thing over lockdown so we’ve seen a lot of people also doing air fryers and so that sort of fed into it.”
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