Brits set to revive lunchtime economy, research reveals

A poll of 1,000 people by ProSapient, a machine learning executive research platform, finds September was the month the majority of respondents (28%) stated as the earliest they will return to the office.

When it comes to choosing a food outlet for lunch, the survey shows consumers rank hygiene as the most important factor, followed by risk of exposure to Covid-19 or crowdedness, then personal food taste.

The research found that 39% of consumers are purchasing lunch from food outlets, takeaways or supermarkets, only 3% are willing to venture outside and have a sit-down lunch in a restaurant or food outlet.

More than half of Brits (55%) said they would spend the same amount on lunch as pre-Covid, but 25% said would spend more money on lunch.