Date Night at Maccas Fine with Aucklanders

MEDIA RELEASE Embargoed until 1am 11 September 2014

Date Night at Maccas Fine with Aucklanders

Gen Ys most likely to eat takeaway from a fast food outlet more than once a week

Auckland 11 September, 2014 - A recent survey by Canstar Blue has shown that 38% of Aucklanders think it’s acceptable to be taken on (or to take) a date to a fast food restaurant.

Men (36%) and women (31%) have similar views about the suitability of quick service joints for date nights, says Canstar New Zealand, General Manager, Derek Bonnar.

“This view was widely held across the age groups and regions, with the exception of Wellington and the Bay of Plenty where only one in four would be happy to share a meal with their nearest and dearest at their local burger joint.”

On money matters, 17% of kiwis say they can only afford to eat out at fast food restaurants, rising to close to a quarter of (24%) of Gen Ys. Gen Ys are leading the charge to the takeaway store, with more than a third of millennials eating takeaway more than once a week, joined by 28% of kiwi men.

Cooking at home or eating out?

Aucklanders cite price as a factor, with 30% saying that food from quick service restaurants is cheaper than cooking from scratch at home.

Bonnar says, the majority of kiwis surveyed (60%) are not concerned about the calorie count of their favourite takeaway meals.

“Though calorie concerns may not be a factor, Kiwis do care about the origins of their food, with 61% stating that it is important to know where and how, fast food restaurants source their produce.”

Fifty five per cent of Kiwis say that they never feel guilty after purchasing fast food.

Residents of Otago are the most health and weight conscious, with just over half feeling guilty about their food choices. Unsurprisingly, women are more likely to regret their fast food intake, with 64% stating guilt after consumption compared to 35% of men.

Sixty two percent of Aucklanders say that they have no trouble finding healthy options from fast food outlets.

The majority of kiwis surveyed (59%) find food from fast food outlets to be tasty and fresh. Despite Gen Y’s being the most likely to eat takeaways more than once a week, they are the least likely of all the age groups to enjoy it, with just 49% saying it is tasty and fresh, compared to 65% of Baby Boomers.

Burger Fuel takes the top spot in overall satisfaction and near-perfect scores across the board. The main driver of satisfaction was overall taste of the food, followed by value for money and customer service.

“Burger Fuel has worked hard to build a strong brand, backed up by a focus on quality ingredients and great tasting food. ‘Death before bad burgers’ is even a brand motto!” says Bonnar.

The survey asked participants to rate a variety of quick service restaurants across ten categories:

1. Value for money

2. Taste of food

3. Quality of ingredients

4. Variety of food choices

5. Variety of healthy options

6. Speed of food preparation

7. Presentation of staff

8. Customer service

9. Cleanliness of staff

10. Overall satisfaction with the casual dining/fast food outlet

Regional breakouts of note

Auckland: Aucklanders are most likely to eat takeaway from a fast food outlet more than once a week (30%), most likely to only eat at a fast food outlet because their partner chooses to eat there (13%), most likely to think food from fast food outlets is cheaper than cooking from scratch at home (30%), most likely to think it’s acceptable to be taken on a date/to take a date to a fast food restaurant (38%), most likely say that it is important to them to know where and how fast food restaurants source their produce (66%) and most likely(equal with Bay of Plenty) to only go to fast food restaurants because of the children’s meals (13%)

Waikato: People from the Waikato are the most likely to find food from fast food outlets to be tasty and fresh (62%), most likely to never feel guilty after purchasing fast food (61%), least likely to only eat at fast food outlets because their partner chooses to eat there (9%), least likely to think food from fast food outlets is cheaper than cooking from scratch at home (21%), least likely (equal with Bay of Plenty) to think it’s acceptable to be taken on a date/to take a date to a fast food outlets(58%) and least likely to only go to fast food restaurants because of the children’s meals (8%)

Wellington: Wellingtonians are the least likely to find food from fast food outlets to be tasty and fresh (54%), and the least likely(equal with Bay of Plenty) to think it’s acceptable to be taken on a date/to take a date to a fast food restaurant (26%)

Canterbury: Cantabrians are most likely to only be able to afford to eat out at fast food outlets (19%), most likely to not be concerned about the calorie count of their favourite takeaway meal, and just eat it anyway (63%) and most likely to have no trouble finding healthy options at fast joint outlets (64%)

Otago: People from Otago are the least likely to only be able to afford to eat out at fast food outlets (15%), least likely to eat takeaway from a fast food outlet more than once a week (16%) and least likely to never feel guilty after purchasing fast food (51%)

Bay of Plenty: People from the Bay of Plenty are the least likely to be concerned about the calorie count of their favourite takeaway meal and just eat it anyway (57%), least likely to have no trouble finding healthy options from fast food outlets (56%), least likely (equal with Wellington) to think it’s acceptable to be taken on a date/to take a date to a fast food restaurant (26%) and the most likely(equal with Auckland) to only go to a fast food restaurant because of the children’s meals(13%)

About the survey

We partner with respected professional market research agency Colmar Brunton Australia, who undertake research on our behalf using Your Source.

The outcomes reported here are from the 2014 people who have purchased and consumed food from a quick serve or fast food restaurant (e.g. McDonalds, Nando’s, Subway, etc.), excluding pizza, in the last month. The survey has a margin of error of 2.2%

Age Groups:

Gen Y: 18-29

Gen X: 30-44

Baby Boomers: 45+

*To view the full results of the Canstar Blue survey go to: www.canstarblue.co.nz

ENDS

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