New research commissioned by chip brand Smiths, to mark its 95th birthday in our part of the world, coincides with National Potato Day today and there are some interesting revelations.
There’s a ritual so deeply embedded in our psyche that not even a direct instruction from you, the host, can override it. You know this story. You receive this message: don’t bring anything, just you. And immediately you go to the bottle shop. Or the deli. Or, in a very 2026 move, the chip aisle.
New research commissioned by Smith’s to mark its 95th birthday in our part of the world, timed to coincide with National Potato Day today, reveals that only 15% of Australians actually comply when told to bring nothing! The rest of us bring something anyway. According to this research, one in three arrive with something because they don’t want to be the only one empty handed. Thirty percent turn up with something casual, say, a bag of chips, and 23% bring something homemade to impress everyone!
The research paints a vivid picture of how Aussie entertaining has changed and those things that have stubbornly refused to.
The biggest shift is the move away from formal hosting. 47% say they host at home more often than they go out. 44% prefer smaller, more intimate gatherings than they did five years ago. The curated dinner party with matching crockery and printed menus succeeds to the casual catch-up: easier food, relaxed seating. 74% say the home is better than a restaurant because it’s more casual.
44% say hosting is about building connections. 42% love entertaining for its own sake. And 42% are candid enough to admit it’s cheaper than going out.
The Smith’s research is interesting for National Potato Day because of the generational dimension. Gen Z, often stereotyped as the generation least likely to be standing at a stove, turns out to be Australia’s most frequent hosts! 41% entertain at least a few times a month. Unlike their parents and grandparents, they’re more likely to host when feeling lonely, with 14% citing loneliness as a motivation compared with just 3% of Gen X.
Of course, some things haven’t changed. Baby Boomers remain firmly opposed to double-dipping (56% consider it a faux pas), finger-licking from a shared bowl (60% aren’t pleased about that!) and asking guests for money at a gathering (63% say a definite no). Gen Z finds all this far more negotiable.
Smith’s, which has been part of our gatherings since 1931, understands something that the research confirms: the occasion changes, the food stays. From the backyard barbecue to the games night, from the family Christmas to the spontaneous mid-week catch-up, there has always been a bowl of something crunchy on the table. And after all those years, that’s a lot of shared bowls!
