Nation’s favourite dishes revealed
26 April 2012
Horizons has announced the top ten dishes found when eating out of home at an industry insight event hosted by Quorn Foods at Alyn Williams at the Westbury.
Traditional favourites are still fronting the list with burgers taking the top spot with pizza and fish and chips falling just short. Other popular choices in the list, which is comprised of dishes most commonly seen on pub, restaurant and hotel menus across the UK, included steak, chicken curry and roast dinner.
Following the announcement guests enjoyed the nation’s top ten dishes made healthier by using Quorn as the main ingredient and a selection from Alyn Williams’ renowned seven-course vegetarian taster menu. Quorn created some truly mouth-watering dishes, showcasing how you can enjoy delicious meals, while keeping them healthier.
Having announced the list, Paul Backman of the foodservice analyst Horizons shared his industry insight on the eating out market saying: “Healthy eating brands are making a big impression, making up almost 50% of menu items available in the UK. The growth of healthy concepts, such as Tossed, Chop’d and Leon is well underway as a result of consumer demand – and these are the ones to watch this year.”
“However, price is also important, with 70% of consumers stating this is the main determiner when eating out of home showing that value is driving the market. This year we’ll also see the de-formalisation of eating out accelerate, local sourcing and provenance continue to be important and the way operators engage with consumers change in tune with the development of social media and contactless payments.”
Also speaking at the event, nutritionist Amanda Ursell shared her views on the health problem of the nation and Vincent McKevitt, entrepreneur and founder of Tossed, shared his inspiration to create the fast-casual healthy eating brand, which has expanded rapidly to eight stores since opening in 2005.
Vincent said: “When the idea for Tossed came about quick, healthy options were restricted to sub-standard, boring products in the UK. I wanted to create a funky brand that offered value for money, tasty and interesting meals that would appeal to all. We were the first to put calorie labels on our menus – we’ve done it since the first shop opened its doors – but we don’t want to shove the healthy message down our customers’ throats. It’s about enjoying eating healthy options and getting the 80/20 balance of healthy foods and treats right.”
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