THE UNITED KINGDOM

FOOD MARKET

Université MONTESQUIEU – BORDEAUX IVInstitut d’Administration des Entreprises

Diplôme d'Université« Management des Affaires dans les Pays Anglophones »

Promotion 2007-2008

Marché Anglais

TABLE OF CONTENTS -

Introduction .......................................................................................................................................1

I. GENERAL POINTS ......................................................................................................................2

1. Size of the market ................................................................................................................22. Structure of households .......................................................................................................43. Basic products in a Briton's life ...........................................................................................4

II. CURRENT CONSUMPTION TRENDS ....................................................................................5

1. The different meals of the day .............................................................................................52. Habits in the different areas .................................................................................................63. Emergence of new consumers' profiles .............................................................................164. Eating and cooking habits ..................................................................................................185. Consumption habits on places ...........................................................................................19

III. A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY IN FIGURES : PRODUCTS, PRICES ANDHOUSEHOLDS' EXPENDITURE ................................................................................................24

1. The main categories of food products ...............................................................................242. Evolution of food products pricing ...................................................................................243. The budget devoted to food by households ......................................................................274. A thorough comparison of households' consumption trends ............................................30

Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................37

References ........................................................................................................................................39

The UK population is set to increase by over 2 million to almost 62 million over the next 10

years. Increased life expectancy and declining birth rates are leading to an increasingly elderly

population and this trend is set to continue as the large numbers of 'baby boomers' reach retirement

age. Eventually there will be fewer people of working age, which will impact on the Government's

ability to provide a state pension for the increasing numbers of retired people. For those unable to

make alternative provision, retirement may therefore also mean becoming accustomed to a

substantially reduced disposable income. Furthermore, an increasing number of people will enter

retirement without dependents or partners, and this will lead to an increase in the numbers of elderly

people living alone. And as those people become unable to manage on their own, the need for

residential care will increase. This is about to have an impact on food consumption in the country.

As fewer and fewer people choose to marry or settle with a partner, or do so at a later age,

and more of those who do marry become divorced, the number of younger adults living alone will

also increase, although this will be balanced in part by the number of young adults forced to remain

living at home with parents, due to the predicted shortage of affordable housing, particularly in rural

areas.

In 2001, it was analyzed that spending on food is rarely sacrificed for other spending, except

in very low-income households. However, as disposable income increases, so do both expenditure

and consumption. There is a limit to consumption of course, but even when this limit is reached, per

capita expenditure on food continues to increase with disposable income level. In other words, with

increasing wealth, people not only choose to eat more, but also choose more expensive food. Even

so, wealthier households spend a smaller proportion of their disposable income on food than the less

well off, as their increasing wealth allows them to spend more on other luxuries.

With increasing affluence and a relatively stable economy over recent years, the UK has

seen the shift take place in food purchasing patterns towards increasingly expensive food items

rather than the more ordinary. However, food expenditure as a proportion of overall expenditure has

decreased to less than 10%. According to a recent study, people in the UK spend less of their

disposable income on food than any other European country.

Throughout these figures, one question raises:

Have the UK people the same trends and budget in terms of food consumption or are

there any specificities for the different component areas ?

That is what will be treated through the study of the main features of the country, the current

trends for food and then, thanks to the budget and prices devoted to food by households.

I. GENERAL POINTS

Before dealing with the current trends of the UK consumers and the budget devoted

to food purchases, it seems obvious to present some basic economic information and

figures in order to understand better the context of our study.

1. Size of the Market

Even if there are a lot of means to define the size of a market,

we have decided to focus our study on two main aspects : the United

Kingdom population and the development of hypermarkets. This wish

aims at being more concise so as to emphasize the most relevant

characteristics.

a) Population

The United Kingdom is very urbanized: in 2001, 89,6 % of the population lived in urban

regions. According to the forecasts, the urbanization will grow of 12 % in England between 1991

and 2016, and will also extend in a considerable way in the regions of the Southwest, from the east

of Midlands, the East and the Southeast.

The region of the Greater London is most densely populated in the United Kingdom: 7,5

million people live there, including more than 3 million households, and whose age of the

population is slightly lower than it in the national average.

Considering the fact that the United Kingdom is a developed and industrialized country, its

economic growth rate is relatively weak, but its population takes some expansion: during the last

years, it progressed slowly to reach an annual average growth rate about 0,5 %. The net

international migration in the United Kingdom contributed to a large extent to the demographic

evolution of the country.

The population of the United Kingdom quickly ages, but its life expectancy improved. The

proportion of the population of less than 16 years old declines, whereas that of the population of 65

years and more increases. The consumers of 65 and more years old will constitute a more and more

important and influential segment of the population.

The average age of the British is of 38,8 years. Approximately one person out of five is less

than 16 years old and a person out of six is 65 years old or more.

The distribution according to the age of the population of the United Kingdom is the

following one:

17,5 % are 14 years old or less, 66,8 % are from 15 to 64 years old, and 15,8 % are 64 years

old or more.

Ethnic minorities represent 7,9% of the total population.

b) Development of hypermarkets

Such an increase in consumption has led to the emergence of shops. Among them, it is to

highlight the growth of hypermarkets, that benefit from this reality of mass consumption. Hence the

following graph shows the evolution of the hypermarkets' market shares:

Evolution in the number of hypermarkets settled in the United Kingdomfrom 2005 to 2009

(in UBIFRANCE : Structure et stratégies de la grande distribution généraliste au Royaume-Uni)

2. Structure of households

The proportion of the households composed of one person is increasing in the United

Kingdom:

It represents 29 % of all the households, that is seven million people.

According to the forecasts, the proportion of the Britishmen living alone will reach 27%

before 2020.

As the ageing of the population will become more marked and as the birth rate will bend, the

number of households of two people will continue to increase. In 2001, 34 % of the British

households counted two people. The proportion of single-parent families strongly progressed,

passing from 8 % of the set of families in 1971 to 25 % in 2004.

3. Basic products in a Briton's life

Traditionally, many Britons have started the day with something called a 'full English

Breakfast'. This typically comprises of the following things: toasted bread, spread with butter, jam,

marmalade or honey; followed by a 'fry-up' or cooked breakfast of fried bread, sausages, bacon,

mushrooms, eggs and tomatoes. Served with hot tea, with milk added. However, with todays fast

lifestyle and an increasing awareness of healthy eating this traditional breakfast is now largely eaten

only at the weekend, and has been replaced by another in most British households. A typical modern

breakfast comprises: fruit juice, toast and jam, packet cereal (cornflakes or similar), and tea .

In some households and workplaces this is followed by something called 'elevenses'. This

consists of a cup of tea or coffee and some biscuits. Actually 'elevenses' can be taken at anytime of

the day, and with most Britons this is usually fairly often!

II. CURRENT CONSUMPTION TRENDS

Food consumption in the United Kingdom can be characterized by the appearance of

a series of new trends coming from both specific habits of consumers of the different

component areas and important changes in their consumption profiles and places.

1. The different meals of the day

'Lunch' can be anytime between 12.30 and 2pm. Some people might have a sandwich, while

others will have a full-cooked meal. In schools this meal is referred to as 'dinner'.

'Tea' is served at any time between four and five o'clock and for the majority of the

population is a cup of tea, a sandwich or two and some cake. Some families, notably from the

working classes, have their main evening meal at this time.

Biscuits for tea time

'Dinner' is the usual name for the main evening meal. It can be served anytime between 6pm

and 8pm and for most families is the biggest meal of the day.

'Supper' is the final meal of the day, and is usually something very light like a sandwich and

a cup of tea. Nowadays, this meal is usually eaten in front of the television.

Before going to bed many Britons drink a drink made from hot milk. Usually either plain

boiled milk, chocolate, or 'Horlicks'/'Ovaltine' (two brand-name drinks made from Barley and

Malt).

On Sundays, people do not usually have to work, so they take the opportunity to eat together

with their family. Sunday lunch is usually the best meal of the week and many of the meals which

are considered typically British are eaten for Sunday lunch. A typical meal might be eaten between

1pm and 2pm and include roast beef and yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, boiled vegetables, and

gravy (meat sauce). However, many families now eat less beef, so other roast meat is often eaten -

lamb, pork, chicken, turkey or duck. Some families will also follow the main meal with a desert

such as 'apple pie and custard'.

2. Habits in the different areas

It has been analyzed that the habits towards food consumption

are not the same in the different regions : England, Scotland, Wales

and Ireland.

a) Eating Out in England

On any pub menu you are likely to encounter such dishes as the Cornish pasty and

shepherd's pie. The first, traditionally made from Sunday-meal leftovers and taken by West

Country fishers for Monday lunch, consists of chopped potatoes, carrots, and onions mixed together

with seasoning and put into a pastry envelope. The second is a deep dish of chopped cooked beef

mixed with onions and seasoning, covered with a layer of mashed potatoes, and served hot. Another

version is cottage pie, which is minced beef covered with potatoes and also served hot. Of course,

these beef dishes are subject to availability. In addition to a pasty, Cornwall also gives us Stargazy

pie -- a deep-dish fish pie with a crisp crust covering a creamy concoction of freshly caught herring

and vegetables.

The most common pub meal, though, is the ploughman's lunch, traditional farm-worker's

fare, consisting of a good chunk of local cheese, a hunk of homemade crusty white or brown bread,

some butter, and a pickled onion or two, washed down with ale. Nowadays, you can find such

variations as paté and chutney occasionally replacing the onions and cheese. Or you might find

Lancashire hot pot, a stew of mutton, potatoes, kidneys, and onions (sometimes carrots). This

concoction was originally put into a deep dish and set on the edge of the stove to cook slowly while

the workers spent the day at the local mill.

Among appetizers, called starters in Britain, the most typical are potted shrimp (small

buttered shrimp preserved in a jar), prawn cocktail, and smoked salmon. You might also be served

paté or fish pie, which is very light fish paté. Most menus will feature a variety of soups, including

cock-a-leekie (chicken soup flavored with leeks), perhaps a game soup that has been doused with

sherry, and many others.

Among the best-known traditional British meals is roast beef and Yorkshire pudding (the

pudding is made with a flour base and cooked under the roast, allowing the fat from the meat to

drop onto it). The beef could easily be a large sirloin (rolled loin), which, so the story goes, was

named by James I when he was a guest at Houghton Tower, Lancashire. "Arise, Sir Loin," he cried,

as he knighted the leg of beef before him with his dagger. (Again, because of the mad-cow crisis,

beef dishes may not be available or advisable.) Another dish that makes use of a flour base is toad-

in-the-hole, in which sausages are cooked in batter. Game, especially pheasant and grouse, is also a

staple on British tables.

On any menu, you can find fresh seafood: cod, haddock, herring, plaice, and Dover sole,

the aristocrat of flatfish. Cod and haddock are used in making British fish and chips (chips are fried

potatoes or thick french fries), which the true Briton covers with salt and vinegar. If those who like

oysters, it is to advise those of the famous Colchester variety. Every region of England has its

seafood specialties. On the west coast, you'll find a not-to-be-missed delicacy: Morecambe Bay

shrimp.

The British call desserts sweets, although some people still refer to any dessert as pudding.

Trifle is the most famous English dessert, consisting of sponge cake soaked in brandy or sherry,

coated with fruit or jam, and topped with cream custard. A fool, such as gooseberry fool, is a light

cream dessert whipped up from seasonal fruits. Regional sweets include the northern flitting

dumpling (dates, walnuts, and syrup mixed with other ingredients and made into a pudding that is

easily sliced and carried along when you're "flitting" from place to place). Similarly, hasty

pudding, a Newcastle dish, is supposed to have been invented by people in a hurry to avoid the

bailiff. It consists of stale bread, to which some dried fruit and milk are added before it is put into

the oven.

Cheese is traditionally served after dessert as a savory. There are many regional cheeses, the

best known being cheddar, a good, solid, mature cheese. Others are the semi-smooth Caerphilly,

from a beautiful part of Wales, and Stilton, a blue-veined crumbly cheese that's often enjoyed with a

glass of port.

The UK cheese industry

b) From Angus to Haggis in Scotland

For most of the 20th century, restaurants in Scotland were known mainly for their modest

prices, watery overcooked vegetables, and boiled meats. But you need no longer expect a diet of

oats, fried fish, and greasy chips -- in the past 25 or so years there has been a significant

improvement in Scottish cookery. There was a time that the Scot going out for dinner would head

for the nearest hotel, but independent restaurants are now opening everywhere, often by newly

arrived immigrants, along with bistros and wine bars.

More and more restaurants are offering "taste of Scotland" menus of traditional dishes

prepared with the freshest local ingredients, a culinary program initiated by the Scottish Tourist

Board. Scotland's culinary strength is in its fresh raw ingredients, ranging from seafood, beef, and

game to vegetables and native fruits.

One of Scotland's best-known dishes is pedigree Aberdeen Angus beef. In fact, the famous

ye olde roast beef of England often came from Scotland. Scottish lamb is known for its tender, tasty

meat. A true connoisseur can taste the difference in lamb by its grazing grounds, ranging from the

coarse pastureland and seaweed of the Shetlands to the heather-clad hills of the mainland.

Game plays an important role in the Scottish diet, from woodcock, red deer, and grouse to

the rabbit and hare in the crofter's kitchen. And fish in this land of seas, rivers, and lochs is a

mainstay, from salmon to the pink-fleshed brown trout to the modest herring that is transformed into

the elegant kipper (the best are the Loch Fyne kippers). Scottish smoked salmon is, of course, a

delicacy known worldwide.

The good news is that the word eclectic now describes many restaurants in Scotland. To cite

only an example or two, fresh salads often are given a Thai kick with lime leaves and chile, and stir-

fry and chargrill are standard features. Scots today eat better than ever in their history. Robert Burns

would be shocked at some of the new taste sensations creative chefs are devising. But he would be

happy to learn that alcohol, and especially whisky, is still a favored ingredient in many dishes and

sauces.

Of course, it takes a wise chef to leave well enough alone, and many Scottish cooks know

the simplest dishes have never lost their appeal, especially if that means Lismore oysters or Loch

Etive mussels. The Scots have always been good bakers, and many small tearooms still bake their

own scones, buttery shortbread, and fruity breads. Heather honey is justly celebrated, and jams

make use of Scotland's abundant harvest of soft fruit. Scottish raspberries, for example, are said to

be among the finest in the world.

Scotland is also reputed for its excellent cheeses. The mild or mature cheddars are the best

known. A famous hard cheese, Dunlop, comes from the Orkney Islands as well as Arran and Islay.

One of the best-known cheeses from the Highlands is Caboc, creamy and rich, formed into cork

shapes and rolled in pinhead oatmeal. Many varieties of cottage cheese are flavored with herbs,

chives, or garlic.

Then Haggis is still Scotland's national dish -- it's perhaps more symbolic than gustatory.

One wit described this dish as a "castrated bagpipe." Regardless of what you might be told

facetiously, haggis is not a bird. Therefore, you should turn down invitations (usually offered in

pubs) to go on a midnight haggis hunt. Cooked in a sheep's paunch (nowadays more likely a plastic

bag), it is made with bits and pieces of the lung, liver, and heart of sheep mixed with suet and

spices, along with onions and oatmeal. Haggis is often accompanied by single-malt whisky.

Haggis from Scotland

c) A Taste of Wales

In Wales, the food served is often indistinguishable from that you would have in Britain or

Scotland, but there are a number of specialties to try that you won't find elsewhere. A Taste of

Wales restaurant program has been established whereby travelers can enjoy traditional Welsh

cuisine. A symbol, an iron bakestone or griddle bearing the words "Blas ar Gymru -- A Taste of

Wales," indicates that a restaurant, pub, cafe, hotel, guest house, or farmhouse offers traditional and

contemporary Welsh food, as well as other choices.

The leek is one of the national emblems of Wales, and is used in a number of dishes. The

selection of the leek for this national honor is lost in the dim past, although associated with St.

David, patron saint of Wales. Today the leek is worn on St. David's Day, March 1, a national

holiday.

Among dishes in which the leek is used is cawl mamgu, a rich soup or stew. The most

commonly used recipe calls for lamb or mutton, turnips (the Welsh call them Swedes), carrots,

potatoes, parsnips, onions, and leeks. At home the broth is often served first with bread, the meat

and vegetables being used as a main course. In some sections of the country, home-cured bacon is

the meat used, brewed up with finely chopped vegetables. The leek pastie, usually made in the

shape of a little leek, is a popular appetizer or side dish.

The potato became a dietary staple of Wales in the 18th century. Anglesey eggs feature

potatoes and leeks as well as cheese. Punchnep is a combination of potatoes and turnips served

with heavy cream. Teisen nionod, or onion cake, is a tasty, slow-baked potato-and-onion dish.

Most people are familiar with Welsh rarebit (or rabbit, if you prefer), but another cheese

dish you should try that is not found elsewhere is Glamorgan sausage, a meatless concoction of

onion, cheese, breadcrumbs, and seasonings, shaped like sausages, dipped in breadcrumbs, and

fried. Another good dish, skirettes, is served at the Skirrid Inn near Abergavenny. This is a sort of

mashed-potato pancake with a difference. The difference is supplied by grated walnuts, prawns,

hard-boiled eggs, onion, cheddar cheese, and spices. It's all given a breadcrumb coating and baked

or deep-fried.

Faggots used to be made of meat fragments left over after pig slaughter, wrapped in

membrane that covers the pig's abdominal organs, and shaped like sausages. Today it's all a little

more palatable sounding, being made of liver, bacon, onions, breadcrumbs, and sage, cooked and

served cold.

Rabbit, chicken, turkey, duckling, game, even pheasant appear on the menus, and a rabbit

casserole is offered in some restaurants as a Taste of Wales, so popular is the meat. Special dishes

include a poacher's pie (containing beef, rabbit, chicken, and game) and Welsh salt duck, which

rivals any offered on Asian menus. Predominant on the list of what to eat while in Wales are

freshwater fish and seafood. Trout and salmon prevail among the products of rivers and lakes,

tumbling practically from the fisherman's creel to your plate, with a little detour through the

kitchen. Perhaps you'll get to taste a rare salmon, the gwyniad, which is found only in Bala Lake.

Baked trout with bacon is a favorite.

From the ocean and coastal waters come crabs, lobsters, sewin (sea trout), crayfish,

mackerel, herring, Pollack, bass, hake, ling, whiting, and flat fish, as well as cockles, limpets,

scallops, and mussels. The Romans were great cockle eaters, as revealed by huge mounds of the

shells found in excavating the sites occupied by the long-ago conquerors. You might enjoy the

cockle-and-bacon pie offered on some menus, or Gower scallops and bacon. Mussel stew and

mussel and queenie (scallop) cawl, which is like a bouillabaisse, are popular dishes.

The Welsh word for bread is bara. At least once, you should try laverbread (bara lawr),

which has probably been part of the Welsh diet since prehistoric times. It's made of laver weed, a

parchmentlike seaweed, which is boiled and mixed with oatmeal, shaped into laverbread cakes, and

fried like pancakes. It's full of vitamins and minerals. You'll find it on all Taste of Wales menus, so

take a nibble at least. Bara ceirch, a flat oatcake, is rolled very thin and cooked on a griddle. A rich

currant bread, bara brith, is found all over the country, although the ingredients may vary. It's

baked in a loaf, and some cooks use raisins and candied citrus peel along with the currants.

For the dessert, it is to mention Welsh cakes made with currants. Oat biscuits are another

treat, much like the oatmeal cookies you may have had back home. Desserts (puddings they're

called here, whatever their form) seem to be mainly fruit crumbles -- blackberry, apple, what have

you -- topped with custard and/or thick cream.

Cheese, leek and bacon Welsh cake

d) Specific cuisine in Ireland

Lots of Irish dishes include potatoes in their recipes such as the

calconnon or the champ. Among several traditional dishes there are

the Irish Stew made with mutton and the Boxty which is a kind of

potatoe pancake. But, the Irish cuisine shows a particular aspect :

although Ireland is an isle, neither fishes nor seafoods have ever

constituted any Irish menus. Nevertheless, this trend tends to reverse

since the shrimps of Dublin bay and the Galway oysters are

invading the Irish tables. The Irish people are used to consuming a

few varieties of fishes and especially salmon and cod.

On the other hand, the traditional Irish breakfast is made of

scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, black and white pudding, orange

juice and tea or Irish coffee. Today, the Irish people are increasingly

adopting dishes from western cuisine.

e) British Breakfasts and Afternoon Tea

Britain is famous for its enormous breakfast of bacon, eggs, grilled tomato, and fried bread.

Some places have replaced this cholesterol festival with a continental breakfast, but you'll still find

the traditional morning meal available.

Kipper, or smoked herring, is also a popular breakfast dish. The finest come from the Isle of

Man, Whitby, or Loch Fyne, in Scotland. The herrings are split open, placed over oak chips, and

slowly cooked to produce a nice pale-brown smoked fish.

Many people still enjoy afternoon tea, which may consist of a simple cup of tea or a formal

tea that starts with tiny crustless sandwiches filled with cucumber or watercress and proceeds

through scones, crumpets with jam, or clotted cream, followed by cakes and tarts -- all accompanied

by a proper pot of tea.

In the country, including Wales and Scotland, tea shops abound, and in Devon, Cornwall,

and the West Country you'll find the best cream teas; they consist of scones spread with jam and

thick, clotted Devonshire cream. It's a delicious treat, indeed. People in Britain drink an average of

four cups of tea a day, although many younger people prefer coffee.

Advertisement of a famous British tea brand

f) What to Wash it all down with

British pubs serve a variety of cocktails, but their stock-in-trade is beer: brown beer, or

bitter; blond beer, or lager; and very dark beer, or stout. The standard draft beer is much stronger

than American beer and is served "with the chill off" because it doesn't taste good cold. Lager is

always chilled, whereas stout can be served either way. Beer is always served straight from the tap,

in two sizes: half pint (8 oz.) and pint (16 oz.).

One of the most significant changes in British drinking habits has been the popularity of

wine bars, and you will find many to try, including some that turn into discos late at night. Britain

isn't known for its wine, although it does produce some medium-sweet fruity whites. Its cider,

though, is famous -- and mighty potent in contrast to the American variety.

Whisky (spelled without the e) refers to scotch. Canadian and Irish whiskey (spelled with

the e) are also available, but only the best-stocked bars have American bourbon and rye.

"It's the only liquor fit for a gentleman to drink in the morning if he can have the good

fortune to come by it. . . or after dinner either." Thus wrote Sir Walter Scott of the drink of his

country -- scotch whisky. Of course, if you're here or almost anywhere in Britain or Europe, you

don't have to identify it as scotch whisky when you order. That's what you'll get. In fact, in some

parts of Scotland, England, and Wales, they look at you oddly if you order scotch as you would in

the States.

The true difference in the scotch whiskies you may have become accustomed to seeing on

bars or shelves of liquor stores at home is whether they're blends or single-malt whiskies. Many

connoisseurs prefer single malts, whose tastes depend on their points of origin: Highlands,

Lowlands, Islay, or Campbeltown on Kintyre. These are usually seen as sipping whiskies, not to be

mixed with water (well, maybe soda) and not to be served with ice. Many have come to be used as

after-dinner drinks, served in a snifter like cognac.

The blended scotches came into being both because the single malts were for a long time too

harsh for delicate palates and because they were expensive and time-consuming to produce. A

shortcut was developed: The clear and almost tasteless alcohol produced in the traditional way

could be mixed with such ingredients as American corn, Finnish barley, Glasgow city tap water, and

caramel coloring with a certain percentage of malt whiskies that flavored the entire bottle.

Whichever you prefer, both the single malts and the blends must be made within the borders of

Scotland and then aged for at least 3 years before they can legally be called scotch whisky.

The British tend to drink everything at a warmer temperature than Americans are used to. So

if you like ice in your soda, be sure to ask for lots of it, or you're likely to end up with a measly,

quickly melting cube or two.

g) The reality of the regional meals

Britain was never known for its haut cuisine, but today there is a great gulf between the very

best of international cooking at the top end of the scale, and the mass produced stuff that abounds in

most high streets.

Regional "specialties" tend to have been overworked for the tourist market. Here in

Cornwall, the Cornish Pasty can be bought in any fast food shop or bakers - but very few are worth

eating. Who is to blame is difficult to say - the public for only being prepared to pay a low price for

their pasty, or the bakers for supplying a product at that price?

Here are a few of the things to look out for:

Fish & Chips - all over the country, but there is a particularly nice one on the harbour in

Whitby in Yorkshire. You are probably more likely to get good fish than chips. Traditionally

wrapped in newspaper and eaten outside.

Yorkshire Pudding - ubiquitous in Yorkshire, but not necessarily better than elsewhere

Haggis - the Scots don't really eat much of it these days

Black Pudding - buy it from a northern family butcher, and cook it yourself

Clotted Cream - from Devon & Cornwall, it is the only thing to eat with scones and jam

Jellied Eel - if you can find them in London

Cornish Crab - I think fresh Cornish Crab is the best in the country

Welsh Lamb - a must if you are in Wales

Regional Cheeses - not the plastic wrapped things from supermarkets. We have hundreds of

excellent local cheeses, which should be available until the men from the ministry stop

production of small family run cheese makers.

Sunday Lunch - still roast beef and Yorkshire pud comes top of the list.

Inevitably the advent of fast communications and the rise of cheap fast food outlets have

meant that regions dishes have either died out , or like say Yorkshire Pudding available all over the

country. Macdonald, Burger King, Pizza Hut and the rest have long since taken root all over Britain.

But if you seek diligently you can still find regional food.

A traditional dish : Fish and Chips

3. Emergence of new consumers' profiles

a) Consumption on the thumb

Generally, although households have an accelerated rhythm of life, they also have more

money to go to the restaurant and buy cooked meals and other convenience foods.

For the first time, the value of household expenditure in conformance with the goings out to

the restaurant is superior to that of the purchases of foodstuffs consumed at the house.

In 2004, the value of the purchases of food and drinks consumed out of homes registered a

strong increase of 102,2 %.

There is an increasing demand of sandwiches in urban areas. Counters in sandwiches appear

almost everywhere in London, and the sales of meal-minute and sandwiches to be taken quickly

climb. Sandwiches began to compete successfully with hamburgers sold in establishments to fast

service, because they are considered as a healthier food option.

The meals ready to serve will also be more in demand. Their marketing can target more

exactly the increasing number of one-person households in the United Kingdom.

h) Packed food

The sector of the packed food should also continue to grow, because it meets the needs of

numerous consumers pressed by time.

According to the forecasts, the purchases of products of bakery, of dairy products, cooked

meals and cooled transformed food should increase considerably. On the other hand, we expect that

the frozen food loses ground.

From 2000 till 2005, the sales of packed food from the suppliers of food services progressed

of 4,36 %. The strongest increases were observed for bars-meal (124,28 %) and noodles (51,43 %).

There was a marked drop in the sales of oil and with fats (14,51 %) and of tartinades (3,57 %).

In this industry, the development of new products will contribute to a large extent to the

growth of sales. In 2005, the highest value of the retailings in the sector of the packed food was

registered by transformed food (8,2 million pounds). The growth rate of the sales of these products

became established in 39,18 %.

i) Organic products

The consumers whose philosophy of life is now centred on the health are more inclined to

buy biological, functional food and in agreement with their new food principles. In 2004, the sales

of fresh products of biological culture were estimated at 760 million pounds, their annual growth

rate becoming established in approximately 24 %. About three quarters of the British households

buy wholefood during the year.

Approximately 82 % of the sales of organic products are realized by the chains of

supermarkets, and the main British retailers hold generally more than 1 000 organic products in

stock..

This market presents considerable possibilities of growth, because the demand of cooked or

transformed food and food ingredients of biological culture is in development. The occasional

buyers or the new buyers become very often usual customers.

j) Other habits of spending

In the market of drinks, the sub-sector of drinks ready to drink showed a robust 12 % growth

rate in 2003, and should continue to develop.

The sales of yogourt drinks progress. During the next five years, they should increase by 40

%.

The evolution of the tastes of the British consumers and the increase of the demand of

superior-quality products are evident: the sums dedicated to the purchase of basic food decreased

(bread, milk and food in tins or canned food), what leaves more money for the purchase of products

of better quality and of a more raised taste. As a consequence, the quality of numerous products was

heightened, completely new ranges of superior-quality products were created and we proceeded to

extensions of brands. These tendencies contribute to the success and to the expansion of the

establishments of retailing specialized in quality products with high prices.

k) Traditional food getting fashionable

There's a lot more to British food today than the traditional roast, which has been celebrated

since long before the days of Henry VIII. Of course, parsnip soup is still served, but now it's likely

to graced with a dollop of walnut salsa verde. In contemporary England, the chef of the early

millennium has taken on celebrity status. The creator of breast of Gressingham duck topped with

deep-fried seaweed and served with a passion-fruit sauce is honored the way rock stars were in the

1970s. Some restaurants are so popular that they are demanding reservations two weeks in advance,

if not more.

The new buzzword for British cuisine is "magpie", meaning borrowing ideas from global

travels, taking them home, but improving on the original.

4. Eating and cooking habits

It has been considered that there are four main factors that influence eating and cooking

habits:

✔ Supply/availability

✔ Price/affordability

✔ Time

✔ Knowledge

It is worth mentioning, however, that consumers themselves are not always aware of what it

is that influences their decisions. For example, whilst 'greater awareness of dietary requirements and

effects on health' is cited by consumers as the most important factor that has a lot of influence on

their eating habits, the data provided throughout this report indicates that eating habits bear little

resemblance to dietary recommendations and this is substantiated by the population's increasing

obesity.

On the other hand, as few as 15% agree that the availability of different ingredients and

foods affects their eating habits, when it is the widening range of foods made available to the UK

population through global trading that has probably had more effect on food purchasing habits than

anything else in the post-war years.

Price and time are two factors that are interdependent when it comes to food habits. The

increasing number of women working and/or opting not to have children has been one of the

contributory factors in increasing wealth. However, because this means that households can afford

to spend more on food but have less time in which to prepare it, the use of ready meals and ready

prepared ingredients has soared.

Today's lifestyle places less emphasis on the family unit and family mealtimes are becoming

a thing of the past. The use of microwaves and the availability of single serve sizes of prepared or

quick to prepare foods enable family members to prepare their meals individually. According to the

British Potato Council (2002), 47% of adults eat their main meal in front of the TV and 40% of

adults eat their evening meal alone.

The three-meal day is also becoming eroded. In fact, it is increasingly replaced by the five-

snack day, and identifies the main snacking occasions as follows:

✔ The early morning commuter rush

✔ Mid Morning

✔ Lunch time

✔ End of the school day

✔ Return home from work

In 2002, The British Potato Council highlights 10-11pm as the most common time for in-

home snacking and 1-2pm as the time when most snacks are eaten outside the home. In-car

snacking, or 'dashboard dining' is a growing trend.

Where people do eat three meals a day, their content is changing. The British Potato Council

finds that consumption of the traditional English breakfast of bacon and eggs declined by 23%

between 1990 and 2000.

5. Consumption habits on places

When it comes to food consumption, it is important to

distinguish different places where people' s habits take place. Indeed,

an important difference has to be made between food consumption at

home and food consumption outside the home.

a) Consumption at home

As far as consumption at home is concerned, two main

situations can be noticed :

On the one hand, you can find home-made cook. This

greatly consists in the traditional dishes mentionned in the previous

pages of this report. But, another practice is also important in the

United Kingdom, known as kitchen gardening. The UK people are

justifiably famous for their gardens, and the kitchen gardening has

long been a source for herbs and vegetables. Some British households

grows cabbage, various tubers such as parsnips, potatoes, and turnips,

all of which are culinary staples. Garlic and leeks, too, have found

their way into every vegetable plot. Fresh herbs such as sage, dill,

parsley, and thyme grow among the flowers. Rosemary and oregano

are rarely grown and used considerably less than in their native

Mediterranean homes. Tea sandwiches are flavored by balancing the

pungent taste of freshly picked sorrel and watercress against the light

flavor of cucumbers. The garden is also bounded by hedgerows thick

with berries. Raspberries, currants, blackberries, juniper berries,

cranberries, and elderberries are everywhere, even along the

roadsides, and wild strawberries too can often be found nearby. The

British use berries to make sauce for duck, jam for tea, trifle, or to

enliven liver pâté. Apples are another fruit with high visibility. Cider,

both hard and soft, lies at the base of many recipes sweet and savory.

On the other hand, there is a trend to the home-

consumption of preserved food and prepared meals. Some households

who are not able to grow vegetables and fruits because of their

accommodations or wages are used to consuming canned food

(tomatoes, beans, peas, artichokes, ...etc ) to cook their own dishes.

Others can decide to buy prepared meals in supermarkets for different

reasons : they dislike cooking, they have not time enough to cook

when they come back from work, or they are one-person households

(single or divorced people) for whom cooking is not their cup of tea.

b) Consumption outside the

home

Basically, the several situations of food consumption

outside the home in the United Kingdom are threefold :

✔ Restaurants

Restaurants have seen good strong growth for most of the last five years. Increasing

affluence and busy lifestyles have led to increased restaurant usage and household expenditure on

eating in cafes and restaurants has increased by over 35% since 1997. However, even in a growing

market place, poor performers do not survive and a large number of restaurants fail each year. Mid-

market restaurants, like hotels, are currently the most difficult part of the restaurant sector, as they

are squeezed on both sides by an increasing range of low cost options at the budget end of the

market and increasingly affluent customers choosing more expensive restaurants at the premium

end of the market.

Roadside restaurants, including motorway service areas, which have undergone a

considerable transformation in the last two or three years, showed the greatest market growth in

2001 at 4.3%.

✔ Fast foods and takeaways

Although snacking and less prescriptive eating habits are on the increase, the fast foods and

takeaways sector has shown weakened growth in sales since 2000 after rapid growth during the late

1990's. The takeaway chicken market is the only part of the sector that shows better growth in 2001

than in previous years. This is due to heavy price promotions induced by tough competition,

although competition is not only between players in the sector but also from innovations elsewhere,

such as supermarket take-home meals and work based take-home services.

The market is nevertheless worth almost £7.5bn and still growing. Sandwiches take the

largest market share, capturing over one third of the market, and the value of the sandwich market is

increasing at about 4% per annum. This increase in value is due to the development of more

expensive luxury ranges, using either luxury fillings or breads, but also because increasing

affluence and pressures on time are leading people to buy ready-prepared sandwiches rather than

prepare them at home.

Burgers are the next most popular fast food and McDonald's and Burger King take 91% of

the market, but the annual growth rate in this sub sector has shown the greatest decline, from 9% in

1998 to 2% in 2001.

The value of the fish and chips market is about half the size of the burger market and one

third the size of the sandwich market. Its growth rate was not as rapid as other sub-sectors in the

1990's but has likewise declined since 2000. In 2001 growth was only 1.6% - the smallest growth

rate of any fast food or takeaway sub-sector. This is thought to be attributable to consumers'

perceptions of fish and chips being a high fat meal and perhaps not a trendy option for younger

generations.

The pizza market is stable and has been helped by some new menu ideas, but there has been

some rationalisation of this sub-sector, leaving fewer players. Outlets in leisure venues, retail parks

and transport terminals have helped sales.

Contrary to popular belief, the majority of adults are light users of takeaways and fast food

outlets; using them once a month or less. About 4% of adults use takeaways more than once a week

and about 1% use fast food outlets more than once a week. However, market penetration is good

and spread throughout all social grades and ages (see Table 9). Lowest penetration levels are in the

over 65-age group and social grade E. ABC1 groups have not been high users of takeaways and fast

food outlets in the past, but penetration is increasing markedly in these groups.

Note that the South West has the greatest market penetration levels of both takeaways (almost 85%)and fast food outlets (over 58%) of any region outside Greater London.

✔ Pubs or « Public Houses »

The number of pubs in the UK is declining and sales of alcoholic drinks in those that are left

are also declining. Food and soft drinks therefore make up an increasing percentage of a pub's sales.

Food accounts for about 18% of the total sales in an average pub, but in some pubs this percentage

rises to over 50%. Growth has been somewhat haphazard, but the value of food sales in pubs is

currently growing at about 5% and the market is worth just over £1bn (this figure excludes formal

restaurants in pubs). The "pub food" is essentially made of jacket potatoes, mashed potatoes with

sausages, Yorkshire pudding and different meats served with sauce and various vegetables.

Pubs are becoming increasingly segmented. Some have a restaurant or food focus, whilst

others focus on sport and providing satellite TV coverage. Some remain community drinking pubs

and others have been transformed into young peoples' bars. But, the most authentic are the country

pubs that are pubs lost in the middle of nowhere in the English countryside where you are warmly

welcomed in front of a crackling fire.

There is some evidence of too much branding creeping into parts of the pubs (and

restaurants) market, with insufficient differentiation between different branded operators. Even in a

fashionable market place, it is necessary for each business to find and maintain its unique selling

point.

The younger age groups, men and better-off people are the most frequent pub diners;

however the South West has one of the lowest pub dining levels in the UK.

Alcoholic drinks served in UK pubs

III . A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY IN FIGURES : PRODUCTS,PRICES AND HOUSEHOLDS' EXPENDITURE

In this section, we will define different categories of products to analyze the UK food

market. Then, we will deal with the evolution of prices applied to these products, and finally, we

will show various trends in households' expenditure.

1. The main categories of food products

In order to make our review of the UK food market easier, we have decided to put food

products together in several homogeneous groups. These groups are sixfold :

➢ Dairy, eggs and yellow fats : this group deals mainly with the dairy industry including

products such as milk, cream, cheese, yogurt and chilled desserts. It also takes into account

butter and non-dairy yellow fats because of their common use as dairy alternatives.

➢ Meat and poultry : this category includes both red meat (beef and mutton) and white meat

(veal, lamb and pork). Poutry meat is also added.

➢ Fruit and vegetables : this category deals with potatoes, fresh vegetables, fresh fruit and

processed fruit and vegetables (canned products).

➢ Fish : both fresh and chilled fish

➢ Bread, cakes, biscuits and cereals

➢ Drinks : this group deals with alcoholic drinks (beer, wine, cider, spirits), soft drinks (fruit

juices, bottled water, concentrates and ready-to-drink squash) and hot drinks (coffee, tea).

2. Evolution of food products pricing

In 2001, retail food prices were increasing at around 3% - about double the rate of inflation,

although this is by no means the case throughout all sectors. In 2001, lamb, pork, dairy produce,

fresh fruit and vegetables and bread all increased in price, whereas beef, fish and potatoes showed

little change. Total retail food sales in the UK in 2001 amounted to almost £100bn.

The best performing sectors overall during the five years 1997-2001 were bread, cakes,

cereals and biscuits and fish products. Ready meals, pizza and cooking sauces also did well. Fruit

and vegetables now account for a 27% share of the market - for the first time replacing meat, which

has previously always attracted the largest market share.

Many organic conversions were completed in the UK during 2001, increasing the area under

organic cultivation by 133%. This led to an increase in UK supply, particularly in the meat sector.

However, this was not matched by increased demand and organic meat and milk were both sold into

the mainstream food market without any price premium.

Food prices have tended to lag behind the Retail Price Index and fruit and vegetable prices

have tended to lag behind the overall food price index. In 2001-02, there was an unusual rise in the

price of fruit and vegetables which may explain the drop in consumption that year. Fruit prices fell

slightly in 2004-05 and although in 2005-06 they have raised slightly they have not yet returned to

2003-04 levels. Vegetable prices rose in 2003-04, fell slightly in 2004-05 and in 2005-06 have

returned to 2003-04 levels.

According to a retail lobby group in London, the perception that UK food prices are going

up is a myth to the extent that strong competition between food retailers is keeping prices down

with the annual rate in food price inflation falling. This analysis was confirmed by the British Retail

Consortium that explains, through its BRC-Nielsen Shop Price, that food prices in August 2007

were 2.1 percent higher than a year earlier, compared with 2.8 percent in July and 3.6 percent in

June. To sum up the BRC CEO's point of view, we can say that the August 2007 results underline

the strength of retail competition in the grocery market and should be a useful counterweight in

some of the more alarmist forecasts of the future price rises. The UK's highly competitive grocery

market will continue to shield customers and huge increases in food prices are not expected. In

september 2007, another member of the BRC said that prices were going up, but the rate of increase

has slowed in recent months. He added that the idea that prices overall are rising is just wrong.

There is no explosion in food prices. The UK people still benefit from an intensely competitive

grocery market. A typical trolley of goods is 15 percent cheaper in 2007 than in the 1990s. The chart

below shows the evolution of the UK grocery market from 1995 to 2006 :

UK grocery market performance

On the other hand, the point of view of non-increasing food prices was rejected by Unilever,

the UK's biggest food producer. In fact, Unilever declared in August 2006 that Great Britain would

face soaring food prices, a shortage of staple foods and declining public health if the Government

pushed ahead with plans to promote the use of biofuels. It feared that Europe-wide plans for a huge

increase in use of vegetable oils in the manufacture of road fuels would have dramatic

consequences, driving up the cost of foods such as margarine and leading consumers to switch to

less healthy animal fats.

To conclude, we can say that it is quite difficult to assess food prices evolution. There is a

current debate in the United Kingdom about the possibility of an increase in the food market prices.

Some people think that this increase is unavoidable whereas others consider that this situation is no

longer threatening the UK food market.

3. The budget devoted to food by households

After having presented food pricing, it is now relevant to deal with households' expenditure

on the different categories of food. From the table below, we have defined two periods of purchases

to compare.

On the one hand, we have compared the 2004-05 period with the previous year to analyze

expenditure trends :

➢ total expenditure on all food and drink rose by 2.1 percent to £34.31 per person per week

➢ expenditure on total households' food and drink rose by 1.7 percent

➢ households' expenditure increased on most types of food and drink. The only exceptions

were expenditure on non-carcase meat and meat products, potatoes and soft drinks

➢ expenditure on all food and drink consumed out rose by 3.0 percent

➢ expenditure on alcoholic drinks consumed out fell by 1.7 percent

On the other hand, we have compared the 2005-06 period with the previous year :

➢ total expenditure on all food and drink rose by 1.7 percent to £34.97 per person per week

➢ expenditure on total households' food and drink rose by 2.2 percent to £23.56 per person per

week

➢ expenditure on food and drink recorded as eating out rose by 0.7 percent to £11.41 per

person per week

➢ households' expenditure rose by 12.9 percent for fruit, by 6.3 percent for vegetables

(excluding potatoes), 5.3 percent for fish, 5.1 percent for cheese, 5 percent for eggs and 4.9

percent for milk.

➢ households' expenditure fell by 7.7 percent for confectionery and by 5.7 percent for soft

drinks.

To conclude on the table analysis, we can say that both total expenditure on all food and

drink and expenditure on total households' food and drink keep on rising. Expenditure on food and

drink consumed out keeps on rising but at a slower rate.

The table below shows another analysis of the UK expenditure on food and drink from 1995

to 2005-06, but assessed in real terms :

Between 1995 and 2005-06 real terms expenditure on all food and drink increased by 14

percent due to increased expenditure on eating out. Household's expenditure has increased in real

terms by only 1.3 percent since 1995 while expenditure on food and drink eaten out rose in real

terms by 55 percent from £7.36 to £11.41 per person per week at 2005-06 prices. Expenditure on

food and drink excluding alcohol has risen by 8.6 percent in real terms between 1995 and 2005-06.

Households' expenditure fell in real terms by 0.4 percent over the period, while eating out

expenditure rose in real terms by 43 percent.

Expenditure on alcoholic drinks rose by almost 50 percent in real terms between 1995 and

2005-06. Expenditure on alcoholic drinks consumed outside the home has fallen slightly each year

from 2002-03 to 2005-06.

The proportion of expenditure on eating out, excluding alcoholic drinks, has been around 27

percent each year from 2002-03 to 2005-06. The proportion of expenditure spent on alcoholic

drinks outside the home has fallen slightly each year from 60 percent in 2002-03 to 58 percent in

2005-06.

The average expenditure on all food and drink in the UK was an average of £34.97 per

person per week in 2005-06. Overall expenditure on food and drink is estimated to have been 1.7

percent higher than in the previous year, but with the all items RPI rising by 2.6 percent this was

almost a 1 percent drop in real terms.

Expenditure on food and drink eaten out was 0.7 percent higher in 2005-06 which in real

terms was down by almost 2 percent. Expenditure on alcoholic drinks purchased for consumption

outside the home was 2.1 percent higher which in real terms is slightly lower than in the previous

year.

4. A thorough comparison of households' consumption trends

Throughout this last section, we will make comparisons of households' consumption trends

in the United Kingdom by following two main criteria : geography and demography.

a) Geographic comparisons of food and drink consumption

The geographic comparisons of food and drink consumption refer to the different countries

of the United Kingdom : England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

In fact, between 2003 and 2006, there was little variation between the countries in

households' purchases of milk and cream, other meat and meat products, eggs, fats and oils, total

cereals, beverages, soft drinks and confectionery. For these products the ratio of purchases per

person in the highest purchasing country to that in the lowest purchasing country was 1.2 or less.

Households in England purchased the most cheese, fish, fruit, vegetables (excluding potatoes) and

beverages, and households in Northern Ireland purchased the least. Households in Northern Ireland

purchased more than one and a half times the quantity of fresh and processed potatoes than

households in Scotland. Wales had the highest purchased quantities of fats and oils while Scotland

purchased the least. The quantity of alcoholic drinks purchased for the household was highest in

Wales, over one and a half times more than in Northern Ireland. However, households' expenditure

on alcoholic drinks was highest in Scotland. Total expenditure on households' food and drink varied

little between countries.

As regard the eating-out trend, English households had the highest eating out purchases of

Indian, Chinese and Thai meals, fish and fish products, cheese and egg dishes and pizza, and

beverages and the lowest levels for purchases of confectionery and soft drinks including milk.

Northern Ireland households had lowest levels for all above items apart from Indian, Chinese and

Thai meals but had the highest eating out purchases of confectionery and ice creams, desserts and

cakes. The quantity of vegetables, potatoes and meat and meat products purchased for consumption

outside the home was highest in Wales and lowest in Scotland. Households in Scotland purchased

nearly one and a half times more sandwiches to eat outside the home than households in Northern

Ireland. Scottish households purchased the most soft drinks whilst Welsh households purchased the

largest quantity of alcoholic drink for consumption outside the home. There was little variation

between the countries in expenditure on food and drink purchased for consumption outside the

home, which generally represented just under a third of the overall expenditure on food and drink.

After the study of the different UK countries, we will focus on the five regions of England:

London, North East, North West, Yorkshire and The Humber and East Midlands.

From 2003 to 2006, there was little regional difference in the quantities of households'

purchases of carcase meat, fish, eggs, fats and oils, vegetables (excluding potatoes) and total

cereals. The largest regional differences were for purchases of alcoholic drinks and confectionery.

Households in the North West purchased over one and a half times the quantity of alcoholic drinks

purchased by London households. London households purchased the lowest quantities of most

types of food and drink apart from carcase meat, fish, eggs, fats and oils and fruit and vegetables

(excluding potatoes). Households in the North East purchased the least carcase meat and fruit and

vegetables (excluding potatoes) but the most other meat and meat products, fish, soft drinks and

confectionery. Purchases of vegetables (excluding potatoes) and fruit were highest in the South

West and the East respectively.

Households in the North East region spent 9.4 percent less than the average for UK

households on food and drink purchases for the home whereas households in the South East spent

5.9 percent more than the UK figure of £23.56 per person per week. For the UK as a whole 11

percent of the households' food and drink budget was spent on alcoholic drinks. In the North West

13 percent of the budget was spent on alcoholic drinks compared with 10.4 percent in London.

As far as eating out is concerned, there was a large regional difference in the quantity of

Indian, Chinese and Thai meals eaten out. The quantity purchased per person per week in London

was over two and a half times the quantity purchased in the North East. London also had the highest

purchases of cheese, egg and pizza dishes. Yorkshire and the Humber showed the highest purchases

of fish and fish products, sandwiches and alcoholic drinks purchased for consumption outside the

home. Combining household and ‘eating out’ purchases of alcoholic drinks it was households across

the North of the country i.e. North West, North East and Yorkshire and The Humber who had the

highest levels.

London spent the most on food and non-alcoholic drinks for consumption outside the home

and the North East spent the least. Yorkshire and the Humber spent the most on alcoholic drinks for

consumption outside the home and the East spent the least. When comparing eating out expenditure

with the UK figure of £11.41 per person per week, households in the West Midlands spent 12

percent less (£10.00) whereas households in London spent 19 percent more (£13.54).

There was a wider variation than at country level in eating out expenditure as a percentage

of overall food and drink spending with 38 percent of the total being spent on eating out in London

compared with 31 percent in the East. For the United Kingdom as a whole, eating out expenditure

represented 33 percent of the total.

b) Demographic comparisons of food and drink consumption

Geographic trends of households' food consumption are also accompanied by demographic

ones. Demographic comparisons are based on several criteria. Among them, we have chosen the

most relevant : age, ethnic origin, socio-economic class and level of income.

In order to analyze these trends by an easier way, we will focus on the Household Reference

Person (HRP), that is to say the person who :

• owns the household accommodation, or

• is legally responsible for the rent of the accommodation, or

• has the household accommodation by virtue of their employment or personal relationship

to the owner who is not a member of the household.

✔ Age of Household Reference Person criterion

The age of the HRP is often related to the composition of the household and, to a lesser

extent, its income group and level of eating out. In particular it is necessary to consider the average

number of children per household before interpreting the results. The survey results by the HRP age

group should therefore be interpreted with caution: for example, purchases of soft drinks were

highest in the 65 to 74 group, which could be due to visits by grandchildren. As regards to eating

out habits, households' purchases of most food items rose steadily with the age of the HRP to a peak

in the 65 and under 75 age group. The exceptions were soft drinks which peaked with the 40 and

under 50 age group, cheese, alcoholic drinks and other meat and meat products which peaked with

households where the HRP was aged 50 and under 65. The purchases of food and drink items for

consumption outside the home showed more variation across the age groups but overall purchases

of most food and drink items eaten out was lowest in the 75 and over age group.

This is a comprehensive study by age group :

Household Reference Person aged less than thirty: purchased quantities of all household food items

were lowest in households where the HRP was aged under 30 except for cheese, soft drinks and

alcohol. For food items eaten outside the home, households in this group purchased the most

sandwiches, soft drinks and alcoholic drinks. The per capita spend in households where the HRP

was aged less than 30 was £18.46 on food and drink for home consumption which was 22 percent

less than the UK average for all households. In these households, 11 percent of the household

expenditure was spent on alcoholic drinks for home consumption. Members of households with a

HRP aged less than thirty had the highest spend on food and drink eaten out at £13.18 per person

per week, which represented 42 percent of their total expenditure on all food and drink, and was 16

percent above the UK average.

Household Reference Person aged between thirty and under forty: households where the HRP is

aged 30 and under 40 spent £19.77 per person per week on food and drink for home consumption

which was 16 percent lower than the UK average. Expenditure on food and drink eaten out was 5.3

percent lower than for all UK households and as a percentage of total food and drink spending was

35 percent, compared with the UK average of 33 percent.

Household Reference Person aged between forty and under fifty: compared with other HRP age

groups, the households where the HRP was between 40 and 50 tended to have the highest average

gross weekly income per household. These households purchased the most soft drinks for home

consumption. When eating out they purchased the most in half of the categories. Weekly per capita

spending on eating out at £11.85 was 35 percent of the total food and drink budget.

Household Reference Person aged between fifty and under sixty-five: purchased quantities of and

expenditure on alcoholic drinks brought into the home was highest in households where the HRP

was aged 50 and under 65. These households purchased the highest quantities of cheese, other meat

and meat products for household consumption plus vegetables (excluding potatoes) and beverages

when eating out. Combined food and drink expenditure was highest for this group at £40.25, of

which £13.00 was spent on eating out. This represented 32 percent of the total. The weekly per

capita households' expenditure at £27.25 on all food and drink was 16 percent higher than the UK

average.

Household Reference Person aged between sixty-five and under seventy-five: purchased quantities

for home consumption of most food items, apart from cheese, other meat and meat products, sugar,

beverages, soft drinks and alcohol, was highest in households where the HRP is aged 65 and under

75. Member’s expenditure on food and drink brought into the home was £27.01, which was 15

percent more than the average for all UK households. Expenditure on eating out, at £8.82, was 25

percent of the total spend on food and drink.

Household Reference Person aged seventy-five and over: members of households in the aged 75

and over group purchased the largest quantities of sugar and beverages and the lowest quantities of

soft and alcoholic drinks. Expenditure on household food and drink, at £23.97, was similar to the

UK average for all households whereas expenditure on food and drink eaten out at £5.49 was 52

percent below the UK average and represented only 19 percent of the total expenditure on all food

and drink.

✔ Ethnic origin of Household Reference Person criterion

The different comparisons based on the ethnic origin of the household reference person

show that patterns in certain household food and drink purchases and in eating out can be linked to

the ethnic origin of the HRP. However, when interpreting the results it should be noted that 95

percent of the sample were white HRP households.

For households' food and drink consumption, White HRP households purchased the highest

quantities of milk and cream, cheese, other meat and meat products, potatoes, beverages, soft

drinks, alcoholic drinks and confectionery. Black HRP households purchased the most fish and

fruit. Asian HRP households purchased the most fats and oils and total cereals. Members of Mixed

HRP households had the highest purchased quantities of carcase meat, eggs, sugar and preserves.

Members of Chinese HRP households purchased the most vegetables (excluding potatoes).

Households' food and drink expenditure was highest in White HRP households where

£23.83 was the average spend. This was 1.1 percent more than the UK average for all households.

In comparison, Asian HRP households spent £14.92 per person per week which was 37 percent less

than the UK average.

When it comes to eating out, Chinese and other HRP households purchased the highest

quantities of Indian, Chinese or Thai meals, as well as fish and fish products. Asian HRP purchased

the highest quantities of cheese and egg dishes and pizza whilst mixed HRP purchased the most soft

drinks including milk. For all other types of food and drink purchased for consumption outside the

home it was White HRP households which purchased the highest quantities.

White HRP households had the highest eating out expenditure at an average of £11.72 per

person per week. Whereas Asian HRP households spent the least amount on eating out at £5.31 this

54 percent less than the average for all UK households.

✔ Socio-economic classification of Household Reference Person criterion

The socio-economic classification of the HRP bears little relation to the age of the HRP and

the household composition. However, the socio-economic classification of the HRP is strongly

related to the average gross weekly household income and this should not be overlooked when

interpreting the results.

The households where the HRP was in the Higher professional category purchased the most

cheese, fruit and vegetables (excluding potatoes). The small employer & own account workers

category purchased the largest quantities of carcase meat, fish, total cereals and beverages.

Households where the HRP was in the Never worked & long-term unemployed category had the

highest purchases of milk and cream, eggs, fats and sugar and preserves but the lowest purchases of

all meat, fish, vegetables (excluding potatoes), fruit, alcohol and confectionery.

Weekly expenditure on household food and drink was highest at £27.28 per person in

households where the HRP was in the category Large employer, higher managerial. This was

16 percent more than the UK average for all households. The lowest per capita expenditure was in

households where the HRP was in the category Never worked and long-term unemployed and at

£15.94 was 32 percent lower than the UK average.

Purchased quantities of most food items eaten out were highest in households where the

HRP was in the Large employer, higher managerial or in the Higher professional categories.

Purchases of alcoholic drinks were highest in households where the HRP was classified as Small

employer and own account workers. Households where the HRP was in the Never worked and long-

term unemployed category purchased the lowest quantities of most food items eaten out.

The lowest weekly expenditure per person on food and drink for consumption outside the

home was £5.35 in households where the HRP was in the Never worked and long-term unemployed

category. This was 53% less than the UK average and represented 25% of total food and drink

expenditure. The highest weekly expenditure on food and drink for consumption outside the home

was in households where the HRP was in the Large employer, higher managerial category where the

average weekly spend per person was £17.35. This was 52 percent higher than the UK average and

represented 39 percent of the total food and drink budget in those households.

✔ Income quintile of Household Reference Person criterion

Before dealing with the differences of each income quintile, it is obvious to explain this

notion. Income quintile is based on gross weekly household income. The first income quintile

contains the lowest income households. The fifth or highest income quintile contains the households

with the highest income. There are five quintiles in all, each representing 20 percent of the

population of households.

First (lowest) income quintile households : for food and drink brought into the home, households in

the first income quintile purchased the largest quantities of other meat and meat products, eggs,

sugar and preserves, milk and cream, cereals and beverages but purchased the lowest amounts of

carcase meat, fruit and vegetables (excluding potatoes), soft drinks and alcoholic drinks. Members

of these households also had the lowest purchases and expenditure of food and drink eaten outside

the home with only 21 percent of the total food and drink expenditure being spent on eating out,

compared with 39 percent in fifth (i.e. highest) income quintile households. First income quintile

households spent 13 percent less than the UK average on household food and drink but 52 percent

less on food and drink eaten out.

Second income quintile households : households' purchases of all carcase meat, fish, fats and oils,

potatoes and confectionery, were highest in second income quintile households whilst households'

purchases of cheese were lowest. Members of these households spent 7.4 percent less on household

food and drink and 34 percent less on food and drink eaten out than the UK average. 26 percent of

the total food and drink expenditure in second income quintile homes was spent on eating out

compared to the UK average of 33 percent.

Third income quintile households : households in the third income quintile spent 6 percent less than

the UK average on household food and drink and 13 percent less on eating out. However, spending

on eating out represented 31 percent of the total food and drink expenditure in these households, the

closest equivalent to the UK average of 33 percent.

Fourth income quintile households : purchases for home consumption of fish and beverages were

lowest in fourth income quintile households whilst households' purchases of soft drinks were

highest in this quintile. Members of these households spent 3.4 percent less on households' food and

drink consumption and 5.5 percent more on food and drink eaten out than the UK average. In fourth

income quintile households, eating out expenditure represented 35 percent of the total food and

drink expenditure whereas for the UK as a whole the proportion was 33 percent.

Fifth (highest) income quintile households : households in the fifth income quintile had the highest

household purchases of cheese, fruit and vegetables (excluding potatoes) and alcoholic drinks and

the lowest household purchases of milk and cream, other meat and meat products, eggs, sugar and

preserves, fats and oils, fresh and processed potatoes, total cereals and confectionery. Fifth income

quintile households spent 13 percent of the households' food and drink budget on alcoholic drinks

compared with the average for the UK of 11 percent. These households had the highest purchased

quantities and expenditure on food and drink

eaten outside the home with 39 percent of the total food and drink expenditure being spent on

eating out, compared to the UK average of 33 percent. Fifth income quintile household food

and drink expenditure was 11 percent above the UK average. In contrast, expenditure on food

and drink eaten out was 46 percent higher.

To conclude on this report, we can say that assessing the UK food market is quite difficult an

enterprise. First of all, we must take into account the size of the market. Since the United Kingdom

is made of four countries, a lot of consumption trends can appear : several meals and traditional

cuisines, different consumption habits, at home or outside the home, an important range of

consumers' profiles, ... etc.

So, to answer to the introducing question, this report illustrates a real disparity among the

UK communities in terms of food and drink consumption trends and expenditure. As food is an

important aspect of a culture, it seems evident that the different component areas show their own

behaviour as consumers. There may be some differences among areas but, also in a same area itself.

The specificities of such a consumption make the originality of the United Kingdom food market,

that is to say a market highly depending on multiculturalism.

To enlarge the topic of our report, we can focus on this notion of multiculturalism. In the

United Kingdom, there is much debate as to what multiculturalism actually is, and whether Britain

is indeed an accepted multicultural state, or simply a multiracial state. Some contend that the

establishment of foreign culture in Britain has been accepted, and is often quoted as a boost to the

economy whilst engendering cultural diversity and fusional phenomena such as British cuisine

combination with foreign ones. But this integration has not been without its tension or critics. Other

point out that other cultures are not accepted and must exist separately in bastions such as

Chinatown or Southall in London.

As far as British fusion cuisine is concerned, we can say that it is one of the most

representative aspect of multiculturalism in the United Kingdom. Indian cuisine is the most popular

alternative to traditional cooking in Britain, followed by Chinese and Italian cuisine food. Thai,

Spanish, Jewish, Greek, Tex-Mex and Caribbean restaurants can also be found, with American and

Middle Eastern food mostly represented in the takeaway sector. Whereas most international food is

pitched in the middle of the price range, French food tends to be considered as « haute cuisine ».

Indian restaurants typically combine a number of basic ingredients such as chicken, prawns or lamb

and mutton meats with a number of curry sauces usually served with basmati rice without regard to

the authenticity of the combination. Anglo-Indian fusion food started during the British Raj (The

British Indian Empire) with such dishes as Mulligatawny soup (largely served in Indian restaurants

of London Regent Street), Kedgeree and coronation chicken. The process continued with Chicken

Tikka Masala in the 1970s and Balti (served in Birmingham) in the 1980s. On the other hand, pizza

and pasta dishes such as spaghetti bolognese and lasagna with bolognese ragù and bechamel sauce

are the most popular forms of Italian food. Chile con carne is by far the favourite Tex-Mex dish : it

is nearly always made with kidney beans and minced beef, and served with rice. Chinese food is

predominantly derived from Cantonese cuisine and adapted to Western tastes. Caribbean and Jewish

food are mostly eaten within their respective communities, although bagels, breads made from

yeasted wheat, are becoming more widespread as a snack.

While these current fusional cuisines are widespreading through the United Kingdom

countries, another debate appears about the quality of food products and its consequences. In fact,

food quality tends to decrease leading to an increase in health problems, including obesity due, to a

large extent, to a lack of time for the home-preparation of meals, replaced by some food bad

consumption habits such as takeaways, packaged food or ready meals. The UK cuisine still suffers

from a relatively poor international reputation, being typically represented by dishes consisting of

simply cooked meats and vegetables that need to be accompanied by bottled sauces or other

condiments after cooking to make them more palatable. In 2005, even French president Jacques

Chirac openly proclaimed that English food was the second-worst in Europe, after Finnish one. The

Mad Cow and Foot-and-Mouth diseases were another problem which also affected the bad quality

reputation of the British food worldwide by accentuating the deficiencies of the UK meat industry.

However, in Britain today, there is a trend to quality improvement and more interest in food

than there has ever been before, with celebrity chefs raising the standard of food in the UK. In 2005,

British cuisine reached new heights when 600 food critics writing for The British Restaurant

Magazine named fourteen British restaurants among the fifty best restaurants in the world. Since the

United Kingdom counts a large number of obeses of the Western Europe, the country could compete

with the United States if the tendency remains. At present, a ban has just been adopted to protect the

UK children from both junk food advertisements sent over the internet or by text message and

television ads for food and drinks high in salt, sugar or fat as part of a drive to tackle the country's

obesity crisis.

Supported by the Slow Food international movement aiming at fighting against the fast-food

industry, let's hope this will be promising for the future health of the UK people !

REFERENCES -

✔ Bibliography

✔ L. Mason, Food culture in Great Britain, Greenwood Press, 2004✔ C. Hardyment, Slice of life : the British way of eating since 1945, Penguin Books Ltd, New

Ed edition, 1997✔ J. Blythman, Bad food Britain : How A Nation Ruined Its Appetite, Fourth Estate, 2006✔ R. Prince, The new English kitchen : changing the way, cook and eat, Fourth Estate, 2006

Articles

✔ A. Makatouni, What motivates consumers to buy organic food in the UK?: Results from aqualitative study, British Food Journal, Volume 104, Numbers 3-5, Emerald GroupPublishing Limited, 2002

✔ A. Jamal, Food consumption among ethnic minorities, British Food Journal, Volume 100,1990

✔ C. Mortished, Food prices would soar in biofuels switch, says Unilever, The Times, August7, 2006

✔ Three main websites

➢ http://www.cornwallpurebusiness.co.uk/uploads/reports/the_uk_food_market.pdf➢ http://atn-riae.agr.ca/europe/3859_f.pdf➢ http://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/statnot/efsstatsnotDec05.pdf

➢ Extra websites

➢ The price of UK food products

➢ http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=1484312007➢ http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2007/09/17/afx4124433.html➢ http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/consumer_goods/article6022

28.ece

English cuisine

http://www.100questions.net/questions.id_1001370,idquestion_1001506.html

✔ English pubs

✔ http://biancaradu.ablog.ro/2007-10-10/les-plats-traditionelles-du-grande-bretagne.html

Scottish cuisine

http://www.100questions.net/questions.id_1001370,idquestion_1001542.html

Irish cuisine

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuisine_irlandaise#La_cuisine_traditionnelle%23La_cuisine_traditionnelle

✔ Welsh cuisine

http://www.foodwales.com/index.cfm/en3200?shortCutId=3200

African-caribbean community in the UK

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communaut%C3%A9_afrocarib%C3%A9enne_du_royaume-uni

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/news_and_events/events_caribbeancuisine.shtml#caribbean_food_in_the_uk

➢ A series of flags as a symbol of the UK melting pot

➢ http://www.tru4u.co.uk/flags_ban.asp

Attempt to ban junk food in UK

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article697347.ece

http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/425825/894843

Some videos available on youtube.com

A UK traditional market with both local and foreign foods ➢ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4izrQ9J7T_g

Gardening in the United Kingdom :✔ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pghC6WgAO_s

A food tour in Britain✔ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDwc1fvEtHU

➢ English food :✔ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3-RPdqIDIQ

Tea drinking in England✔ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFqJOxJsQTQ

✔ Dishes of Irish food ✔ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77gvAn-fBIk✔ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeyztAoOKLw

✔ Irish pub atmosphere✔ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvO17QP26ws