“Eating out is cheaper than cooking at home!”:

the transformation from household to

market in food preparation in Taiwan

Historical development

Before the 1970s: Dining out was seldom a choice of Taiwanese families

During the 1980s: Eating-out expenditure of household rose significantly

Beginning in the 1990s: RM meal market started to expand, proliferating in the past ten years

Cost of eating out as percentage of total household food expenditures

1987 10.9% 1997 23.9% 2007 33.3% 2011 37.9%

Frequency of Buying Meals outside in One Month

% 2001 2012

Breakfast 60.8 70.8

Lunch 48.8 58.5

Dinner 23.6 27.9

Dining-out: a popular meal solution

About 30-40% Taiwanese consumers rely on food prepared outside for dinner

Popular choices: (1) cafeteria dishes and meal box (2) rice and noodle dish shops offering

several side dishes

Ready-made dishes in Convenience Stores

Growing rapidly since the late 1990s

Seating areas: “heating” and “after-meal cleaning” are done by low-paid clerks

Cooperating with giant food producers and factories to reduce cost

Routine practices--planning

Meal planning is regarded as tiring labour, less enjoyable than cooking.

Emergence of “delivery dinner”

-- Consumers can choose cooked dishes or ready-to-cook dishes

-- Consumers can have a complete dinner at home without planning, food shopping, and cooking.

Routine practices--cleaning

Dishwashers are uncommon.

Some interviewees choose to eat out to avoid any cleaning, including to deal with leftover food and trash.

-- R2: The most tiring part of cooking is to clean all pots and the kitchen.

-- R3: Cooking is interesting, but I do hate washing and cleaning.

Equipment

Reluctant attitude toward microwave ovens

1985 5.5% 2005 45% 2012 43%

Difficulty to clean rangehoods

Skills acquisition

Survey “my cooking skill is worse than my parents”

-- 2001: 65.7% -- 2012: 70.2%

Taiwanese parents encourage children to study language, music, painting and sport but not acquire living skills like household cleaning, fixing and gardening.

Co-ordination of activities, people, and products

Long working time and distance marriage result in more:

-- Individualized dining

--Combination of ready-made foods and self-cooked dishes

Changing female labour and long working time

Women’s labour force participation rate has grown from 38.76% in 1981 to 50.19% in 2012.

44.4% of employed female work in “clerical support” and “service and sales” sectors.

Average weekly work hours of labours, 2012

Legislators, Senior officials & Managers

Professionals

Technicians & Associate Professionals

Clerical Support Workers

Service & Sales Workers

Skilled Agricultural, Forestry & Fishery Workers

Craft & Machine Operation Related Workers

Male 44.73 42.85 43.75 42.54 48.86 39.93 43.32

Female 44.15 41.02 42.41 41.87 47.14 39.45 42.29

Types of food preparers in Taiwan

1. The loyal family cook Regarding “cooking for the family” as their

obligation, feeling guilty if not cook

Women over 50, young housewives, and those who live in rural areas

Good at cooking, familiar with routine

practices and equipment maintaining

Buying RM only to add the variety of dishes

2. Selective family cook

They cook at home when their spouse or children are at home, but prefer dine out or go back to parents’ home to dine

Suggesting that “dining out is cheaper than cooking at home” because it is not economical to cook for less than three diners:

-- more food waste-- inefficient if counting the time and energy it

takes

3. Heavy user of prepared food (dining-out lovers)

They cook less than 10 times a year.

Generally aged between 20--40, do not live with parents

-- No time/willingness for routine practices

-- No competences in cooking -- No access to cooking equipment

4. Ready-made food lovers

Individual diners

Prefer dining at home to dining out

Too busy to go out for meals

Frozen festive dishes

Generational difference

The “royal family cooks” are mainly those who were born before 1970, regardless of employment status. Now some of them continue to cook for their married children and grandchildren.

Those were born after 1970 prefer dining out, and seldom feel guilty if they do not cook.

Conclusion

1. Rising Demand: Cooking as a chain process

No time for food shopping No willingness to do routines practices like

planning /cleaning Lack of cooking skills Low utilization of microwave and dishwasher(resulted from long working time and neglect of

home economic training etc. )

--- The chain cannot work, leading to less home cooking and more needs for food prepared outside.

2. Supply side: economic dining choices

Low cost and variety in dining-out

Cafeteria and meal-box: 2-3 £ “Accounting the cost in time and

energy, dining-out is cheaper than cooking at home for three or less diner.”

Food safety and healthy issues