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Starts with a bang, ends with a Wimpy
From Wimpy to Deliveroo – And Tea Rooms to Coffee Chains: How have UK Eating & Drinking Habits evolved
There’s something oddly comforting about watching “old” films – and by old, I don’t mean black-and-white classics, I mean footage from times I actually remember. The kind where you catch yourself saying, “I had one of those!” or “I remember when that was new!”
I recently stumbled upon a Newsround (remember that ?) clip from 1981 that perfectly captures the early days of the UK fast food boom. Back then, In 1981, London had just over 50 McDonald’s. A Big Mac Meal cost £1.52. Burger King had just landed in the UK with a £1 Whopper. And Wimpy… was still flying the flag for British burger joints, and was run by someone who looked suspiciously like Vladimir Putin.
For many of us, the 80s fast food scene was exciting and new. Fast food was a treat, a novelty – not the daily convenience we know today. Menus were simple, choices limited, and “home delivery” meant your Mother calling you in from the street when tea was ready. John Craven might have been the man keeping us informed on Newsround, but McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wimpy were quietly reshaping our eating habits. What I find particularly interesting about that original footage is that these businesses weren't simply responding to an existing demand for burgers. They were introducing a different way of eating. Speed, consistency, convenience and the reassurance of knowing exactly what you were going to get became part of the attraction. John Craven received his McDonald's order in just 25 seconds, which is pretty impressive particularly by today's standards, where speed seems to have taken a backward step, replaced by efficiencies that mean less interaction. Those early operators were helping to establish expectations that would eventually influence everything from coffee shops and motorway services to workplace restaurants.
Fast forward to today we see global chains that have expanded incredibly quickly around the World and into every corner of the UK. In the best examples - Menus are all inclusive of massively changing eating habits there's dairy alternative drinks, calorie counted meals and if you want it, you can understand the impact your food has on the environment. In technology, there's AI-powered ordering kiosks and app-only discounts. Delivery platforms like Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat make any meal a few taps away, meaning you can have your favourite meal at your door in under 30 minutes. Then there's app-exclusive deals that nudge how and when we eat. The industry hasn’t just grown – it’s adapted to every cultural and consumer shift, from healthier options to late-night cravings, plant-based diets to sustainability pledges. Of course, all this convenience comes at a price, particularly for the operators. Delivery platforms have opened up enormous opportunities to reach customers who might never visit a restaurant, but they also take a share of the revenue and introduce additional packaging and operating costs. A restaurant can now be busier than ever, preparing orders for customers it never sees, without necessarily making more money. There's also the question of who owns the customer relationship when the ordering, payment and delivery are managed by someone else. It makes me wonder whether some businesses have become so focused on increasing sales that they've overlooked how much of those sales they're actually keeping.
And it’s not just fast food that’s evolved. The UK’s drinking habits have undergone their own transformation. Once, high streets were dotted with tea rooms and pubs; today, it’s coffee shops that dominate. Costa, Starbucks and Caffè Nero have helped transform the way we think about coffee, turning what was once a relatively straightforward purchase into an everyday ritual. Coffee shops now compete with pubs, cafés and other venues as places to meet friends, conduct business or simply spend some time away from home. They’re Wi-Fi-enabled social hubs, business meeting spots, and safe, alcohol-free hangouts. Drinks trends have followed suit — cold brew, matcha lattes, turmeric shots, plant milks, and ever-more elaborate seasonal specials. The drink is only part of the experience; the space itself is what keeps people coming back. The scale of that transformation is extraordinary. According to Allegra World Coffee Portal, the UK had 12,313 branded coffee shop outlets in 2026, with the market valued at £6.8 billion. We've become accustomed to paying several pounds for a coffee, often without thinking twice about it, while the businesses selling it have found ways to generate additional revenue through food, seasonal drinks, loyalty schemes and increasingly elaborate product ranges. Who would have imagined forty-five years ago that iced coffee, oat milk and matcha would become such important parts of the British high street?
Could you imagine, in 1981, someone telling you that one day you’d order a burger from your sofa on a device smaller than your wallet, track it in real-time, and pay without touching a single coin? We’d have laughed them out of the Wimpy booth. One of the most interesting moments in that original Newsround report comes from Wimpy's Peter Smale, who predicted that the businesses investing in advertising, good service and good products would be the ones to succeed. Looking back, he wasn't far wrong. What he couldn't have anticipated was the extraordinary range of ways businesses would eventually be able to reach customers, influence their purchasing decisions and deliver their products. Nor, I suspect, would he have imagined people happily paying several pounds for a takeaway coffee or having a burger delivered to their front door by someone on a bicycle. Yet the fundamentals he was talking about haven't really disappeared. Customers still want good products, reasonable value and a service they can rely on. What has changed is how they discover those products, how they purchase them and what they're prepared to pay for convenience.
I wonder how many of today's hospitality businesses are genuinely looking ahead at how their customers' habits might change, rather than concentrating on what their competitors are doing now. After all, forty-five years ago, the people behind those first American fast-food restaurants were investing in a concept that was still something of a novelty in Britain. They weren't simply predicting the future of our eating habits. They were helping to shape it. And I suspect the next revolution in how we eat and drink is already taking place, although we might not recognise it for another forty-five years
📺 For a dose of nostalgia, here’s the 1981 clip that started me thinking:
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