Dining ‘anarchists' are a catering growth area

Caterers today have to serve consumers that have been labelled "anarchists", "traditionalists" and "sensibles" by a new market report.

"Anarchists" rely on take-aways and fast food, eating when and where they please, and include teenagers, who increasingly spend money on food outside the home.

The Institute of Grocery Distribution's Food Consumption 98 report described traditionalists as those who eat two proper meals a day but snack substantially, while the "sensibles" consume nutritionally balanced meals and snack rarely. But the general trend is for people to eat out more.

The institute's business analyst, Dr Richard Hutchins, said: "People are less prepared to make time for cooking and preparing meals. Working consumers spend less than half-an-hour a day cooking, and 30% of European food expenditure goes on eating out."

The most determined eaters-out are aged 25-44, eating 43% of their meals outside the home. Eating out accounts for 32% of meals consumed by the over-45s and 25% for those aged under 24.

The report adds that 27% of all money spent on food in Britain is now spent on eating out and the number of meals eaten outside the home has increased by 37% in five years, from 1.6 billion to 2.1 billion.

Restaurants and cafés took 54% of the cash, take-aways 39% and home delivery 9%. Chilled meal sales have jumped 65% to a value of £638m since 1991.

By Angela Frewin