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The 28th annual British Sandwich Week takes place between 22 and 28 May 2022, giving operators the chance to promote this great British staple. FIGHTBACK The last two years has been a difficult trading period for nearly all businesses, let alone those in the hospitality, catering or food to go sector. The pandemic wiped out two-thirds of the £8 billion UK sandwich market overnight, so coming out of it is proving just as challenging with staffing and supply chain shortages, costs soaring and a new hybrid world which has left city offices only half functioning. Yet, despite all this, the latest data suggests that the resilient sandwich sector is fighting back strongly with around 38% volume regrowth recorded over the last 12 months and a return close to 2019 levels anticipated by researchers towards the end of this year. And to help buffer any more negative sector news,
returning for another year to help drive nationwide footfall, is British Sandwich Week. The 28th annual British Sandwich Week takes place between 22 and 28 May 2022 – and the British Sandwich & Food to Go Association behind the specialist week is wanting all those in the out of home market to get involved. The Association represents those businesses where sandwiches form a core part of the food to go offer. Sandwiches are a British staple to be enjoyed at any time of the day, and as we can see in the latest statistics, it’s very clear that as a nation we still love our sandwiches. Nationally, the sandwich is still the go-to lunch option for many Brits – with 72% of spending at lunchtime going on sandwiches.
20 I www.sandwichandfoodtogonews.co.uk
Last year’s successful week saw household brands such as Marmite, McCoy’s, Hellmann’s, Subway, Boots, Roberts Bakery and hundreds more get involved in all activity butty-like for the week with national and regional media covering lots of creative stunts, stories and features giving a good old boost to the sandwich trade, and this year is set to be no less of a sandwich focused fanfare. CELEBRATE Jim Winship, director of the British Sandwich & Food To Go Association behind British Sandwich Week says: “As the UK starts to find its feet again after a troublesome time it’s no surprise the love for everything sandwich is reigning supreme. “British Sandwich Week celebrates the sandwich in all its glory as well as the contribution that the sandwich industry makes to the economy. This year, it has the even greater aim of supporting the industry as it comes back after two years of lockdowns and closures. Sandwiches are a British staple to be enjoyed at any time of the day, and as we can see in these latest statistics, it’s very clear that as a nation we still love our sandwiches. “It’s the perfect time to be exploring the wider range of options that the professional sandwich industry has to offer. We really hope that all sandwich shops, bars, supermarkets, cafes, and retailers across the breadth of the country will have their fridges stacked high with freshly made sandwiches for the up-and-coming British Sandwich Week.”
British consumers manage to munch their way through over 11.5 billion sandwiches each year. If you laid each one end to end, they would go around the world about 44 times. More than half of these were made and eaten in the home. Well over 3.6billion sandwiches are purchased from retail or catering outlets each year and we paid over £8billion for them – that’s as much as 475,765 brand new Vauxhall Corsas (the average price of a sandwich is conservatively estimated at £2.20). What is a sandwich? The British Sandwich & Food to Go Association defines a sandwich as ‘any form of bread with a filling, generally assembled cold to include traditional wedge
