• Diners are looking for something a little more upmarket from their junk food
• Those surveyed interested in trying junk food with better quality ingredients
  

By Anna Edwards

PUBLISHED: 01:54 EST, 2 August 2013 | UPDATED: 09:35 EST, 2 August 2013

Gone are the days when junk food meant a greasy kebab or some cold chips.

Junk food has become distinctly posh - with demand soaring for gourmet versions of traditionally down-market dishes such as burgers and hot dogs.

Where once a basic burger and chips was sufficient to satisfy the appetite, new research reveals that increasingly adventurous diners are looking for something a little more upmarket from their junk food.

A study by consumer analysts Mintel revealed more than one in eight British diners (13 per cent) have tried gourmet junk food - with nearly half (46 per cent) who have not saying they would be interested in trying posher junk food such as hot dogs with better quality ingredients.

Researchers offered people a list of innovative foods and asked whether they had eaten them or would consider eating them in the future.

Chip flights - a selection of different chips and dips - proved the most popular menu innovation, with 13 per cent having tried them and a further 61 per cent saying they would be interested in ordering them in future.

More than a fifth have tried 'build your own' dishes - such as sandwiches, burgers or ice cream sundaes - and 49 per cent were interested in doing so, followed by gourmet doughnuts and eclairs.

However, while the prospect of taking part in a super-sized eating contest may turn the stomachs of many, one in 12 diners (eight per cent) admit they have taken part in one of these competitions, and more than one in five (22 per cent) said they would be interested in doing so.

Helena Spicer, food service analyst at Mintel, said: 'Menu innovation is now rife in an increasingly competitive and mature marketplace, with current food fashions, including gourmet junk food and artisan pastries, designed to reignite consumers' enthusiasm for spending on eating out.

'Restaurants are looking to appeal to those risk-averse diners who seek to indulge their craving for flavour innovation through side dishes rather than main meals.

'As such, a number of flavour trends have grown around this area of the menu, as operators look to balance consumers' low confidence with their increasing 'menu/recession fatigue'. For example, sweet potato fries were a notable trend in 2012, whilst courgette fries have been gaining traction on menus in 2013 at leading venues.

'Offering these options as a price bundle in the format of a 'chip flight' encourages diners to be more spontaneous without taking them too far out of their price comfort zone.'

Nearly half (47 per cent) of people who have eaten in a restaurant in the last three months say that when choosing a dish while dining out they would pick something that they could not usually make at home.

However, it seems it's not all about innovation with some harbouring a nostalgia for British dining experiences of the past. More than a third (34 per cent) claim to be interested in historical or traditional ingredients - such as faggots, while 21 per cent claim to be interested in ordering offal.

Ms Spicer added: 'Diners need to be romanced into ordering these particular types of dishes, such as offal.

'Given that many historical dishes such as faggots are essentially made up of offal, it would suggest that the marketing message is as important as the ingredients.'

Overall, in 2012 alone consumers spent £31 billion on eating out, and Mintel estimates this will grow to £32 billion this year.

Traditional pub grub is also a firm leader in terms of market value, with pub catering remaining the largest segment of the eating out market with consumers spending £6.5 billion in 2012. Pub restaurants and bars are also the most popular restaurants in the UK, with 57 per cent diners visiting them.

Next most popular are ethnic restaurants - such as Chinese, Indian and Thai - at 52 per cent, followed by pizza, pasta and Italian restaurants (45 per cent), then burger and chicken restaurants (32 per cent). British restaurants, excluding pubs, at 25 per cent complete the top five.

However, Brits remain cautious with their money with a third (34 per cent) reducing the number of times they have eaten out in restaurants compared to a year ago, and nearly a quarter (24 per cent) claiming to have reduced the amount they spend when they do.

And more than half of restaurant diners (54 per cent) cite price range as the most important factor when selecting a venue to for an everyday meal, and a third (33 per cent) order tap water rather than bottled water in a restaurant. The same percentage stated they are cooking at home more instead of eating out.