IT’S OFFICIAL, LUNCH IS THE NEW BLACK
Social media selfies, The Great British Bake Off effect & new lunch options create a new breed of luncher - the ‘Luncheonist’
London, 30th September 2013 - Family baker Warburtons has today released results of a tasty study it commissioned into modern UK lunching habits. The research has helped the company to understand the phenomenal growth it has seen in its sales of alternatives to the classic sandwich, such as Thins, Pittas and Wraps, which have increased by 92% in the last year. The study also reveals a new breed of luncher – the so-called ‘Luncheonist’ – an amateur food stylist, who has both a growing obsession and a competitive nature, fuelling a passion for how their lunch is presented to those around them.
The ‘Luncheonist’ represents part of a generation obsessed with social media and food – millions of people are fuelling this food photography phenomenon by snapping foodie pictures and instantly uploading to social media sites. When surveyed:
- 25% of people post pictures of their food up to four times a week – the competitive nature of workers has led to the rise in the Instagram-friendly lunch showing that an impressive ‘Lunchie’ pic (a combo of selfie/lunch) is an important empowerment tool
- Office workers are found to be so competitive when it comes to their food that more believe preparing lunch (12%) in the morning is more important than brushing hair (10%) and doing make up or male grooming (9%)
- 23% of UK office workers spend the same amount of time creating lunch as they do dinner
- 54% of workers blame time constraints for not being able to create the lunch they wish they could
It’s not just social media where the nation feels the need to compete over food, as over a third of people (36%) think their work colleagues judge them for the lunch they bring to work and even in the home, 30% of mums believe making their child’s lunch box is the most important out of their morning tasks. Not only this, when hosting lunches for their friends, 80% of mums spend up to an hour preparing lunch, with 52% of mums hosting more lunches in one month than evening events.
It appears that ‘Luncheonism’ is emerging as a new trend partly due to the impact of TV shows like The Great British Bake Off and Masterchef showing people how to use new products, mix flavours and, importantly to ‘Luncheonists’, present food in an appealing and appetising way. This new mentality is seeping into the nation’s psyche making ‘lunch envy’ ripe amongst UK offices.
It isn’t just the office workers who are ‘Luncheonists’ – mums are getting in on the act too as ‘Luncheonism’ extends around the UK. Mums nationwide agree that making their ‘Mini Luncheonist’/child’s lunch box is the most important out of their morning tasks, ensuring their child does not suffer lunchbox envy.
Keeping up with the Joneses is still a phenomenon alive and well in 2013 with women looking to impress their friends by ensuring their food looks as good as it tastes, clearly taking a leaf out of Paul Hollywood’s book. It seems lunch parties are the new dinner parties.
Dr Christy Fergusson, Psychologist comments: “We’ve long been fascinated with the presentation as well as the taste of food and this has started to make us take more of a sense of pride in our lunch time creations. It’s not a surprise that in these austere times, if we can make a basic tuna sandwich look and taste great by popping it in a Thin, Pitta or Wrap and adding a personal or continental touch with homemade mayo and olives etc., this boosts our anticipation for our lunch. It also impresses those around us which helps create a sense of wellbeing and makes it easier to spend that extra twenty minutes making our lunch look and taste extra special.”
Jonathan Warburton, Chairman of Warburtons, said: “Whilst traditional bread remains a sandwich favourite, we’ve seen sales of our new ‘Sandwich Alternatives’ sky rocket over the last year and wanted to understand what was behind the growth. It would appear that Warburtons’ Thins - exclusive to Warburtons - and other products like wraps and pittas are helping the nation to experiment with their lunches, creating a new and exciting generation of lunchers. We believe some of these new products could have contributed to the creation of the ‘Luncheonist’, by offering convenient and tidy yet exciting ways of presenting food and therefore helping the nation’s lunch to look interesting as well as taste great.”
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