Do Eating Habits in the UK Differ by Region?

We are a nation of foodies

Do you know that 66% of UK adults describe themselves as being passionate about food and drink. It should really come as no surprise that 50% say they are passionate about home cooking. With 53% of the millennial generation eat out at least once a week.

Us Brits will spend a small fortune on food! We will spend our money on takeaways, in restaurants and on luxury food from our local supermarkets. The average person will also spend around £44 per week on restaurant bills alone.

Harvey Jones, kitchen designers Glasgow, want to find out what our money gets spent on? Let’s take a look at the UK’s eating habits by region.

Do we all love a Takeaway?

A survey taken by Payment Sense discovered that the average Brit would treat themselves and spend £117 a year on a takeaway or eating out. That is £9.75 per month, per person!

Bristol is named as the Takeaway Capital of the UK. It has a reported 279 takeaway restaurants. Leeds however appears to be the greatest lover of takeaways. 77% of the Leeds populations admit to having a least one takeaway a month.

The Yorkshire region doesn’t have the same love for ordering-in. People of York don’t eat takeaways as regularly. Only 25% of the York population order a monthly takeaway.

The favourite takeaway cuisine across the whole of the country appears to be Chinese. There are only three of the thirty cities questioned that didn’t crown Chinese as the favourite takeaway. 35% of the individuals asked voted Chinese as their favourite. This trend is also mirrored between the male and females questioned in the survey.

Following closely in second place with 24% of the votes are Indian takeaways. Indian takeaways actually stole the crown for the number one spot in Aberystwyth, Coventry and Wolverhampton.

Do We Enjoy Eating out?

According to The Sun, the average person living in the UK can spend around £288,000 eating out at restaurants during their lifetime.

The Millennial generation are expected to eat out more than any other demographic. The average person in the UK now eats out twice a week. Pub grub is stealing the title as the favourite option for eating out. 18-29 year olds spend double the amount of other demographics on eating out. They will have an average spend of £88 per week!

According to The Chronicle, London is the city where people eat out the most. People living in the city consume the most Indian, Chinese, Thai, fish and chips and pizza meals at restaurants compared to any other city. The South East and Northern Ireland aren’t far behind London with their eating habits. Scotland appears to be the region that eats out the least.

Birmingham is known as the Curry Capital and 43% of residents claim that curry restaurants are their favourite. 34% of Londoners also agree to a love of curry. 14% of people living in Glasgow prefer authentic Spanish tapas, while 14% of people living in Edinburgh love Sushi.

One of the most popular choices in the UK is Pub grub. Liverpudlians couldn’t agree more with 49% of them choosing traditional pub food.

What About Home Cooking?

With our busy work schedules fitting around family life, eating dinner at home has become less formal and structured than in previous decades. In 2017, just over 20% of British families said they sat down to dinner together once or twice a week. One in five have their ‘family meals’ whilst sitting in front of the TV. 49% of people said they prefer to cook their own meals at home. They can then control the ingredients used in their food.

According to Statista, 64% of people enjoy cooking. 55% describe cooking as something they have to do but don’t enjoy. The number of people preparing meals from scratch at least once a week has increased by 10% since 2005.

Which regions are most likely to cook home cooked meals in the UK?

We can assume from our results that as London, the South West and Northern Ireland eat out the most they are least likely to stay home and cook meals. Scotland, Wales, the North West and North East were the regions that appeared to eat out the least. Which means we can also assume that they are more likely to stay home and prepare home-cooked meals more often.

For many the kitchen is now becoming the heart of the home. This means we now tend to spend more time there. With the rise of open-plan living, cooking a meal doesn’t have to be such a lonely task. You can now prepare a family meal in your kitchen whilst spending time with the family, or even entertaining friends.