Our Latest Research

We’ve recently carried out some consumer research with people who regularly order from takeaways to understand who eats takeaway foods, what foods are regularly eaten and why. We also measured the demand for healthier options. In the first phase of research, we spoke with over 250 residents who live in Bradford district through an online survey and conducted focus groups.

These are some of the insights we have so far from the people we spoke to:

• The highest ranked reason as to why people buy food from takeaways was to have a “treat”
• People living in households with multiple occupants told us how often they ate food from takeaways was increased by others in the household. When food is ordered for multiple people, they described that they had less choice when deciding the type of food, which in many cases led to eating unhealthy foods
• 4% said they would like the food they purchase from takeaways to be healthier
• 9% told us if there was a healthier version of their favourite dish they would choose it
• 4% are concerned about the health implications of eating unhealthy foods purchased from takeaways
• Some people were concerned that healthy options might not taste as good and will cost more

Having an informed choice was important to customers. They told us although they might not always choose a healthy option they would like to have the option so they can if they would like to. Customers also wanted healthy options to be clearly labelled on takeaway menus.

The knowledge we have gained so far has now been fed into a second phase of consumer research which will involve using a range of methods to further increase our understanding, such as taste testing and trialling new ideas in takeaways.