Britain's addiction to sandwiches, especially for those that are consumed during lunchtime by office workers, has suffered an expected blow following the coronavirus outbreak, The Guardian reported.
According to the report, sandwich sales fell by nearly £1.3 billion during the lockdown.Sandwich consumption is considered to be a national habit, as Brits eat around 11.5 billion sandwiches a year. This means that a single British adult consumes some 200 sandwiches a year.
The concept of eating a sandwich for lunch instead of proudly waltzing out of the office during lunch break can be traced back to the 1980's, when Marks & Spencer began offering packaged, ready-to-eat salmon and cucumber sandwiches, thus inaugurating a new kind of working culture.
This new culture, supposedly helped Britain's workers to be more productive since it allowed people to work even during
their lunchtime.
But with so many office employees working from home, sandwiches have lost their appeal as the food of choice for the hungry office working masses.
With the removal of the sudden need to substitute a proper meal with the common edible, it also offered an opportunity for many
to contemplate about the modern worker's relationship with time.
"A lot of people-although not key workers of course - have suddenly found themselves with a lot of time on their hands," explains Polly Russell, a food historian.
With this newly earned freedom, it seems that many Brits simply prefer to make more time for their meals.