I.M.P. WARY OF A FAST FOOD CULTURE

Source: http://www.theportugalnews.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?id=1152-9

A recent study has revealed a worrying increase in the amount of fast food being consumed by the people of Portugal, with the take-away meal becoming the consumable foodstuff to show any significant growth between 2010 and 2011.
IMP, a marketing firm based in Lisbon, is understandably wary of Portugal become a fast food-obsessed society. “It’s an effect of the struggling economy,” said Managing Director Christoph Grizzard. “People are working harder to try and make ends meet. And the harder they work, the less time they have to prepare and eat proper meals.”
The study, presented in Lisbon and carried out by the Kantar Worldpanel, seems to back Mr Grizzard’s suspicions, stating in its findings that Portuguese people are “opting more and more to eat at home in the most convenient way possible.” Kantar’s marketing director, Paulo Caldeira, went on to say that take-away food was “cheaper than going to a restaurant . . . people don’t have the time to cook.”
Kantar highlighted seven cities on the Iberian Peninsula, including Oporto and Lisbon, which represents twenty-eight percent of the population, and around thirty-two percent of the value of consumption in that region. The general consensus among consumers seems to favour speed and easy preparation, with thirteen percent of those questioned saying they often bought ready meals to take home. Kantar say this is due to the average Portuguese consumer being a “smart, down trading shopper” who “chooses cheaper options”.
“We are talking about a consumer who has managed to reduce their expenses,” said Mr Caldeira. “Despite inflation reaching three-point-seven percent, family expenses have only increased one-point-three percent.”
IMP’s managing director is still concerned, however. “Apart from the health issues involved in eating cheap, ready-made meals and calorie-rich fast food, there is also a cultural risk in becoming a quick-fix food society. If we lose the art of traditional homemade cooking then we lose something of our ancestry, something of our heritage.”