New data released by food pre-ordering service TellTheChef shows that more people are identifying themselves as gluten and lactose intolerant when dining out, but guests identifying themselves as vegetarian seem to be on the wane.
The data is drawn from all dishes ordered through TellTheChef – a start up that makes it simple for restaurants to process group bookings and pre-orders. The company, which recently announced leading leisure entrepreneur Luke Johnson as chairman, has processed 1.7 million dishes to date.
The TellTheChef 2014 data shows:
- There was a 53% growth in pre-orders with dietary requirements identified
- gluten-free orders up 12.8%
- Lactose free orders were up 7.05%
- Vegetarian guests declined by 4.3%
- ‘no nuts’ orders were down 5.9%
- ‘no pork’ orders were down 9.3%
Many restaurants now catering for gluten and lactose intolerance
The news comes a few days after new EU regulations came into force, obliging restaurateurs to state when food contains certain stated allergens.
TellTheChef Founder and CEO Andrew Norton said: “Restaurants are already very good at catering for people with food allergies, as our data proves, and it’s no longer just about perceived common allergies such as nuts and shellfish. Awareness about gluten and lactose intolerance, in particular, has grown in recent years with many establishments now catering for the requirement.”
Never order the turkey at the Christmas party
The data comes after a record-breaking Christmas party season, which saw 22,000 dishes served through TellTheChef on ‘Mad Friday’ – the final Friday before Christmas when many companies have their office Xmas parties.
TellTheChef uniquely allows diners to rate each course of each meal, and it would seem that – like ordering the second wine on the menu – ordering the turkey and Christmas pudding is a no-no, with each dish receiving relatively low feedback scores in November and December.
Feedback Rating (%) in dishes matching keyword (s) 1 Nov-21 Dec 2014:
TellTheChef Founder and CEO Andrew Norton said: “On the whole, the data shows that people are really enjoying their food over the festive season, with very high approval ratings. But it’s clear that people are generally less satisfied with turkey and the trimmings at Christmas parties. Perhaps nothing quite comes close to lunch on Christmas Day.”
About TellTheChef
Designed by a restaurateur for restaurateurs, TellTheChef is an innovative pre-order system that does away with lost scraps of paper and time-consuming customer liaison, offering restaurants and venues a streamlined online operation, rich data & feedback loops, improved customer service levels and reduced costs.
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