24th February 2021, DUBLIN: New research reveals lockdown has turned us into a nation of ‘fridge-gazers’ as in the last year, the average Irish person has spent a total of 15 hours and 49 uninspired minutes staring into their fridge whilst deciding on their midday meals. 

That’s a national average of 2 minutes 36 seconds to fridge-gazing each day – with almost a fifth admitting they spend more than 5 minutes ‘fridge-gazing’ for lunch inspiration every day!  

The research commissioned by Subway asked 1,000 Irish people about their lockdown lunch habits – to coincide with the launch of their new Loaded Value meal deal – and shows that fighting over the office microwave is now a distant memory for the 65% of Irish people currently working from home. Consequently, half of us now confess to eating the same lunch at least three days in a row during lockdown – with 37% even reaching for a bowl of cereal for their mid-day meal. 

Sandwiches still rank top choice as the Irish public’s favourite lunchtime meal (37%) but a whopping 54% feel uninspired when making a homemade lunch. On the occasions when hunger gets the better of us, over half (54%) have admitted that they would even resort to making lunch with food past its sell-by-date if it was the only food in the house! 

To help lift our lunchtime spirits and satisfy our lockdown cravings, almost two thirds (60%) of us now treat ourselves to takeaway lunch at least once a week as a ‘pick-me up’ (33%) or to save time (19%) when working from home – with Friday being the most popular day to place a takeaway order (40%). 

Irish people are also using their lunch break for a bit of ‘me time’, with activities such as going for a walk (44%), watching an episode of a favourite TV show (29%), chatting to friends (31%) and reading (12%) the most popular ways to take a work break in lockdown – with 11% of us even taking a nap!

However, over half of Irish people (51%) are still eating their lunch at their desk even while working from home, with 25% of the nation taking 20 mins or less as their ‘lunch hour’ due to the demand of workload (60%) and virtual meetings (17%). 

Here to liberate lunchtimes and help you claim back your lunch hour - Subway’s Loaded Value Meal Deal, including any Sub, salad or wrap, drink and cookie or crisps, is now available in stores across the UK and Ireland.

Loaded with choice, flavour and value, Subway’s Loaded Value bundle deals are available via third party delivery services, including Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat - including any Sub, salad or Wrap, drink, crisps AND a cookie. 

Also available in-store and for delivery, Subway’s range of Loaded Value menu sides include Hash Browns, DORITOS® Nachos, a selection of Subway Toasted Bites, Cheesy Garlic Bread and a Bowl of Meatballs.  

Many Irish people have seen an increase in snacking (68%) since working from home – on average, opening the fridge or cupboard at least seven times a day for a graze. A further 9% of Irish people admit to visiting the fridge or cupboard up to 15 times to snack throughout the working day and as a result, over one-third (39%) claim that their diet is unhealthier than when they’re in the office.

Angelina Gosal, Head of Marketing UK & Ireland at Subway said: “We’ve all found ourselves staring into the fridge at lunchtime hoping inspiration strikes – so we want to make sure that even lockdown lunchtimes are still loaded with choice, value and flavour with Subway’s Loaded Value menu. We all need something to look forward to at the moment and with even more options available in the Loaded Value meal deals, bundles and sides, you can say goodbye to those sad sandwiches and enjoy your lunch break again.” 

Customers can order Loaded Value meal deals in-store to takeaway or bundles via delivery services including Just Eat, Uber Eats and Deliveroo. 

To find your nearest open Subway® store, visit www.subway.com/en-ie/. 

-ENDS-

Notes to Editors 

Survey commissioned by Subway® via survey company 3Gem, of 1,000 Irish adults in February 2021. 

Subway® is a Registered Trademark of Subway IP LLC. ©2021 Subway IP LLC.   

For more information about this press release please contact: 

Jill Martin, Jill.martin@teneo.com 087 909 8879

For information on the Subway® brand please visit: 

Website: www.subway.com/en-ie/    

Facebook: www.facebook.com/SubwayROI/     

Twitter: @SubwayROI  

About the Subway® brand:

The Subway® brand is the world’s largest submarine sandwich franchise, with more than 42,500 locations in more than 113 countries. Headquartered in Milford, Connecticut, the Subway® brand was co-founded by Fred DeLuca and Dr. Peter Buck in 1965. That partnership marked the beginning of a remarkable journey, which has made it possible for thousands of individuals to build and succeed in their own business. In 2017 the Subway® brand embarked on a sugar reduction programme and together with our beverages partner PepsiCo/Britvic, we have taken out 4 billion calories from our GB customer’s annual consumption, per store, this means almost 2 million calories annually have been removed. This represents an overall 30% calorie consumption reduction from drinks sold in Subway® stores. 

In the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, nearly 300 million calories have been removed from our Irish customers’ consumption from Subway® stores (ROI & NI). Per store, this means almost 1 million calories annually have been removed. This represents an overall 15% calorie consumption reduction from drinks sold in Subway® stores (due to different product mix). We are constantly looking at ways that can reformulate our menu to offer customer a choice of foods that are the best they nutritionally can be at an affordable price.