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Wednesday, August 11, 2010

CURRY VS PIZZA-THE BRITISH SCENARIO


Having introduced the concept of "eating out" to Indians during their colonial rule, British people seemed to have developed a liking for the curries for which India is famous. Out side India highest number of eateries catering Indian foods exist in the UK, though clientele might be predominantly Indians who have made the country their home. These restaurants support a significant portfolio of exports of food products from India besides providing an out let for tourists from the Asian continent, craving for spicy food preparations. The news that sale of Pizza has out stripped that of products from the Indian restaurants for the first time must be a wake up call for the community of restaurateurs for more innovations to recapture the market.

"Britons like pizzas more than spicy curries, spending about 330 million pounds on Indian meals against 749 million pounds on the Italian favourite. Last year, about 466 million pizzas were sold as compared to 191 million curries, The Sun reported on Monday. There are about 12,700 restaurants that serve the Italian dish while there are 12,000 Indian eateries and 10,500 fish and chip shops in Britain. Over 90 per cent of Britons now eat pizza at least once a week. Pizza sales have gone up as they are fast, fit in with busy lives and with TV viewing, say experts. Tesco pizza buyer Adam Chadwick was quoted as saying: "It's the ultimate TV dinner and good for sharing. And it doesn't get in the way of watching the action."

No doubt Pizza is a balanced food containing wheat and cheese with the toppings giving it a really nutritive tag comprehended by the British customers. Also the on-going campaign in the UK to reduce Sodium intake might have played a role because most Indian meal type products do contain high levels of salt to obtain the typical characteristics associated with them. As for the convenience factor, it should not be difficult to make Indian curries also "living room worthy" by suitable modifications of recipes and preparation methods. What is needed is for the association of Indian restaurants to look a little bit more critically at the factors which have driven their clientele to Pizza outlets and address the concerns of the British customers with appropriate corrective steps.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

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