Sandwiches have replaced roasts as the most commonly eaten meal at Sunday lunch, whilst traditional roasts have moved to dinner time, accounting for more than one in five (21.6%) meals eaten on Sunday evening (as compared to one in seven at lunchtime).
Meanwhile sandwiches account for more than one in four Sunday lunch meals (26.6%) with toast meals such as eggs on toast and beans on toast accounting for a further 4.1%.
Paul Chapman, director of insight and business analytics at Premier Foods, said: “Sunday has been transformed from arguably the least active day of the week to the most.
“Families still want to find time for communal eating on Sundays, but they’re having to be increasingly flexible about when and how to achieve it.”
The research found that whilst 28% of Sunday lunches are planned and designed to bring the family together, 16% are described as ‘a quick bite’ and only less than one in 20 Sunday lunches have guests present.
Chapman added: “Roast dinner was seldom part of the Monday to Friday routine, but there’s been a marked shift towards midweek roasts in recent years. That’s why roast dinners in total are actually on the increase.
“With the traditional ‘Sunday lunch’ now just as likely to pop up in the middle of the week we’ve evolved our range to reflect shorter preparation times, for example with ready to use gravy.”
Premier Foods, which owns the Bisto, Oxo and Paxo brands, amongst others, has innovated its range to cater for changing trends.
More and more people are also changing their eating habits due to the variety of ethnic cuisines. Over 9% of the meals eaten are international dishes, with Indian, Chinese, Thai and Mexican the most popular, as well as pasta and pizza.
Read more at http://costsectorcatering.co.uk/nation%E2%80%99s-favourite-lunch-moves-dinner
