A Decade of Change

A Decade of Change....

... Whilst reading a high street food publications November Issue, Celebrating their 10th Birthday I read an article about how the UK's food scene has changed over the last 10 years, to me this is something I find fascinating from the mundane like which spirit was most popular in 2003 compared to now(whiskey - now vodka), to the more complex human perception of high street culture.

Can you remember 10 years ago? Petrol prices averaged 76.9 pence per litre, a loaf of bread averaged 60 pence, families shopped regularly on a weekly spend of £40. The many changes in the past 10 years doesn't seem to have halted our spend for luxuries, in fact rather than spending little and often which used to be the case we now spend more but more sparsely, it comes as no shock to see how restaurant chains have maintained prices over these 10 years but now really compete over offers and deals. How much compromise will there be in the retail sector, supermarkets price increases make it now difficult to spend realistically in this idealistic world that is expected of us, "healthy eating, weight reducing" society driven by the government, a "healthy shop" is nearly 4 times as much as 10 years ago. Branded restaurant prices on average are only £1.30 dearer than 10 years ago. so how is it possible to eat in your Harvesters, Frankie's and Benny's, Nando's so regularly but struggle to fill your cupboards and fridges at home for the same money. Surely one has to give with the price of food rising how can wholesalers keep up with demand but keep prices low, the big dogs in supermarkets must have a close eye on wholesale prices so if restaurants do suddenly increase the prices and lose their bread and butter trade will supermarket prices stop their price hikes? Supermarkets thrive on the abundance of newer fresher ingredients available to us, the real foodies amongst us being able to re-create our favourite chefs recipes or re-creating our favourite dishes from our favourite restaurants, in the last 10 years surveys suggest the "home cook" has increased significantly 55% in fact, now cook from scratch as apposed to microwave or oven cooked dinners. This again brings into place the price war when the average Joe amongst us realises what can be achieved at home and how cheap with fresher ingredients; when will the tipping point of restaurants hit, I mean if you can openly create a stunning dish fresh at home for £10 less than you pay in restaurants there will be a time and point where you are only paying for the luxury of being out of your house. When will food become secondary to the "service".

10 years ago the average person eat out as a luxury to have good cooked food, the service included wasn't really a big deal. Branded Restaurants were always a family favourite or a sought out choice where now its about who provides a decent service, and a family meal with value. The social spenders happily go to branded outfits such as Nando's where to eat a set meal for 2 costs £20.00 and you only receive 1 medium chicken cut into 4 with 2 sides of chips, you have to queue and order your self, you have to get your own drink and get your own cutlery and condiments, this style of restaurant is beyond me as if you wanted you could buy a bottle of Pepsi max a bag of oven fries and a medium chicken for no more than £6.00 cook it your self which means the service was the same but your not paying in excess of £20.

With all the competition out there gastro pubs still do well, its no surprise really that the prices are always inflated where the quality never really matches up to the expectation however the atmosphere and social circle your in frees your mind to spend less cautiously.

With 55% more people cooking from scratch at home its a small surprise that supermarkets invest heavily in meal deals and more premium products, if your going to cook at home why cheat where is the reward? Your Marks and Spencer's and Waitroses are now closely followed in their original eat in for £10 by the big 3.

Whilst we have as a culture started to eat out less for luxury we are spending more in supermarkets, we are also spending much more in alternative food luxuries such as coffee shops, the branding, marketing and demand for coffee shops  such as Costa and Starbucks is trending through the roof, whilst supermarkets branch out to locals, expresses, service stations, branded restaurants hit retail parks and tourist areas, coffee shops where our average spend per head is nearly £4.00 are everywhere to be seen, high streets, supermarkets, aeroplanes, trains, service stations, pubs, retail centres, tourist hot spots, literally everywhere.

from feeding a family for £40.00 a week 10 years ago we now spend £40.00 a week on coffee, on eating out and on luxury items in supermarkets.

Will be interesting to see where we are as a culture in the next ten years.