Less than one in 10 Brits like sharing food 

Here’s why

Despite the continued rise in sharing-style restaurants across the UK, from traditional tapas and high quality Asian sharing platters, to casual dining and fast food spots, less than one in ten Brits would willingly share food from their plate, according to a new report.

Unsurprisingly, Brits are revealed to find food sharing more acceptable in the company of either a large group (15.39 per cent) or when dining with a partner (24.87 per cent), but an overwhelming two fifths (39.43 per cent) of Brits prefer to keep their food entirely to themselves, according to a poll of 5,000 adults by BBC Good Food.

Even among younger generations – the group most expected to tuck into a range of sharing food across the UK – there’s no exception. Millennials are also turning their nose up to the notion with only just over one in ten (12 per cent) saying they’d deliberately order shareable foods when dining, with a further one third (31 per cent) saying they’d rather not share food at all.

With the nation tending back towards traditional dining, the report also reveals that tastes of a traditional nature are also making a comeback across Britain. The top five foods Brits say they’re eating again are chicken kiev (43 per cent), trifle (42 per cent), scotch eggs (40 per cent), rice pudding (39 per cent) and prawn cocktail (33 per cent).

At the same time, contrary to the avocado-eating-brunching stereotype, millennials are found to be lacking in adventure when it comes to exploring the biggest British food trends of 2017. From seaweed and cauliflower rice to courgetti and charcoal food, two in five (41.18 per cent) millennials – and a whopping 54.26 per cent of the rest of the country – have yet to even try the culinary trends of the year.

Regionally, food trends proved most popular for respondents in London, where only two fifths (39.15 per cent) admitted to “untrendy” food habits, in comparison to three fifths (58.39 per cent) in the rest of the UK.

BBC Good Food editor-in-chief Christine Hayes said: “Are we witnessing a backlash against the proliferation of small plates so popular on recent, tapas-style menus designed to share?

“Perhaps we’re too polite to take the last taco or don’t like the thought of double-dipping. Even though we keen on sharing photos of what we’re eating (20 per cent have posted a picture of food on social media) we’re committed to keeping what’s on our plate to ourselves.”