Pizza has emerged just ahead of Chinese to be named the UK’s favourite takeaway cuisine, new research from Peckwater Brands can reveal.
Europe’s largest virtual food brand operator commissioned an independent survey of 2,000 UK adults. Peckwater Brands asked all those who use delivery platforms (like Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just-Eat) at least once a month on average which cuisines they were most likely to choose.
They found that 50% of consumers ranked pizza among their top three selections when ordering from delivery platforms. That put it top of the table, just ahead of Chinese, which was selected by 48% of people, although this did rise to 74% among the over 55s.
Indian, traditionally considered the UK’s favourite cuisine, came in third – it was picked by 36% of respondents.
Elsewhere, old-school favourite fish & chips was picked by just 10%, which put it slightly ahead of Japanese and sushi and Turkish (both 9%).
The popularity of traditional fare was dwarfed by American fast-food options like burgers (34%) and fried chicken (28%), as well as kebabs (20%).
from Peckwater Brands found that the majority (63%) of UK adults still consider takeaways a treat that they look forward to despite the cost-of-living crisis. On average, in 2022, people in the UK spent £508 a year each on takeaway meals.
Sam Martin, CEO of Peckwater Brands, said: “The takeaway landscape has become so diverse over recent years, with delivery platforms opening up many new and exciting options to diners. The pandemic also encouraged more restaurants, pubs and cafés to start selling takeaway meals through delivery platforms.
“Today, people have truly global takeaway tastes. But it also encouraging to see traditional culinary options are still their claim – while novelty and convenience have an impact on people’s choices, there will always be room for longstanding favourites in the delivery market. Ultimately, shifting tastes and food trends constantly reshape the takeaway market, so it is up to the takeaway businesses to continually innovate and level up their offering to stay visible and relevant.
“Our research comes at an important time. Many hospitality businesses are struggling with high energy and food costs, staffing issues and supply chain disruption, and a tightening in consumer spending. Here we show them which dishes and menus might best appeal to eaters, and as a company we will continue to work with kitchens across the UK to ensure they are well placed to tap into customer demand through new menus and virtual brands.”
Britain’s favourite takeaways:
1. Pizza (50% selected it as one of the top three takeaway options)
2. Chinese (48%)
3. Indian (36%)
4. Burgers (34%)
5. Fried Chicken (28)
6. Kebab (20%)
7. Fish and chips (10%)
8. Japanese and sushi (9%)
9. Turkish (9%)
10. Thai (7%)
11. Vietnamese (5%)
12. Caribbean (5%)
13. Korean (5%)
14. Other (2%)