Less than half (48%) of today’s consumers now go shopping just once a week, as people revert to the buying habits of their grandparents, a new report reveals.

A Co-operative Food report ‘Back to the Future’, which compares and contrasts food shopping in 2015 with the mid-sixties, found that the modern trend of shunning the big shop in favour of buying smaller amounts locally reflects exactly what was happening 50 years ago.

It found that millions are shopping in a way people did in the ’60s before the advent of huge supermarkets and fridges, freezers and microwaves.

However, shopping baskets in 2015 compared to 1965 show a stark difference in diet and tastes, with more convenience food now compared to more basic ingredients which were used to make the foods from scratch.

In 1965 the average basket would have contained butter, meat, milk, bread, sugar, flour, eggs as well as lard, suet and yeast. In 2015 consumers are more likely to have confectionary, yogurts and desserts, crisps and snacks, in store bakery products, bananas and energy drinks.

The amount consumers spend in proportion to their income has also fallen sharply - today it is 11% a week on food and drink at an average of £58.80. In 1965, families spent 23% of their income on food.

Steve Murrells, chief executive, retail said: “In half a century much has changed while in many other ways little has altered. Many of the staples found in people’s shopping baskets in the 1960s remain, yet, there are new additions which reflect changing lifestyles and modern shopping habits.”