Resolutions quickly binned as Jan 1 top takeaway day
A survey of more than 1,000 takeaway restaurants found stay-at-home diners had tired of the turkey and ham diet by the time New Year’s Day came around.
The second biggest day for the takeaway trade was Mar 18, as hordes sought to soak up the St Patrick Day’s hangover.
And the next busiest time was Dec 27, finally disproving the theory that you can work miracles with leftovers for the whole of Christmas week.
Chinese food was the number one choice of internet diners, accounting for 17% of all meals ordered online, followed by Indian (16%), pizza (12%), something from the chipper (11%) and kebabs (10%).
That’s despite warnings from nutrition watchdog, Safefood, that a single Chinese takeaway meal can contain more calories than an average adult should consume in a full day.
The news tastes sweet to the takeaway operators, however. Their collaboration with the centralised JustEat.ie online ordering service brought them in €20m worth of internet business last year.
JustEat.ie managing director Brian Hickey said while the recession had made eating in the new dining out, outlets still had to work hard for their business.
“Online ordering is all about variety, value and convenience. People want instant access to a range of menus; they want to read reviews, compare prices and place their order, all from the comfort of the couch.
“I think that in the near future, restaurants will find that if a customer can’t place an order online, then they will lose business to other restaurants.”
Dublin, Cork and Galway were the busiest places for takeaways, Sunday was the busiest day, 6-8pm was the busiest period, 18-45 the busiest age group, and curry sauce the nation’s favourite add-on item.
Half of diners had a takeaway once a week and one-in-three confessed to a twice-weekly habit. But they’re not throwing money away: a waste-conscious 81% said they ate their leftovers the next day.
