A recent survey has found that approximately one in three British adults eats takeaways at least once a week, and more than three million people eat takeaways at least twice a week. Three factors drive this trend. First, human beings are fundamentally lazy and no, we haven’t become a nation of cooks, despite our obsession with TV chefs and cookbooks. Second, greater availability of quick-food outlets drives its own demand. We can’t say no when it comes to food. And third, much fast food actually tastes rather nice, often better than the stuff we cook for ourselves.
This all adds up to big business for restaurant franchises, with the potential for an even greater volume of sales. However, takeaway food typically served by restaurant franchises is notoriously unhealthy. The average takeaway contains high levels of salt, sugar, fat and monosodium glutomate – cheap and potentially addictive ingredients. As an occasional treat, this should not be a problem but when eaten regularly, such high levels of fat, salt and sugar can have a significant health impact. It can be argued that there is no reason for take away food to be so unhealthy, apart from profits from cheap ingredients. For example, healthy olive oil is expensive but unhealthy oils are cheap. The fact remains, however, that when one restaurant franchise outlet starts selling cheap to corner the market, the others have to follow suit or go out of business..
Some takeaway restaurant franchise chains are making an effort to add healthier options to their menus, but these are in the minority in the UK. So it seems there is a gap in the market for healthy fast food restaurant franchises in Britain. The middle classes have traditionally been regarded as more health-conscious and, with the number of takeaways they are consuming rapidly increasing, the time may be right for quick-food restaurant franchises to exploit this demand by offering healthier menus.