Fakeaway (noun) is a homemade meal intended to replicate takeaway food ordered from a restaurant.
The pandemic forced consumers to cook at home as restaurants and takeaway outlets closed. For those that already enjoyed cooking, it provided a time of experimentation and innovation with new recipes. As an advertising means, a number of food service operators promoted traditional recipes on social media platforms to keep customer interest; Ikea shared its famous Swedish meatball recipe, Mcdonald’s shared the secret to its Sausage & Egg McMuffin, and Disney released its Frozen Pineapple Treat or Dole Whip recipe.
In 2020, the world cooked an average of 6.7 meals at home each week. New Zealand saw an average of 6.5 meals in 2019 and 6.6 meals in 2020 cooked at home. Post-Pandemic, it was reported that 61 percent of the global population would continue to cook more meals at home, even as restaurants and takeaway outlets reopened. This mindset is most prominent in the Millennials and Generation Xers.
The rising cost of living is something else set to continue the trend of cooking at home. Food inflation was the highest in 13 years, sitting at 7.3 percent for Q2 of 2022 in New Zealand. When taking into consideration rising ingredients, labour and delivery costs, it is no surprise that the cost of restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food prices have increased by 6.5 percent. When families are restricting discretionary income, the supermarket becomes a place to splurge; customers are more likely to spend $5 extra on the ‘premium’ burger patties that will feed the entire family than the extra $2 on one takeaway burger and still have to buy three more burgers plus a delivery fee.
“I think the rise in living costs is the top reason people are so interested in fakeaways at the moment, especially when I break down the cost per serving. This is what catches customers’ eyes. They are able to quickly compare my costs to how much they are spending on store-bought takeaways,” said Katherine Lynch, founder of The Daily Menu, the subscription meal and recipe plan service.
On the back of the fakeaways name, online platforms across the globe are promoting recipes for the type of at-home cooking; Jamie Oliver, Recipes.co.nz, BBC Good Food and Taste South Africa all have dedicated Fakeaway website tabs. The NZ Herald has recently started an article segment called $15 Fakeaway Friday. Many supermarket sites have dedicated fakeaways recipe sections; Tesco’s 30-minute Fakeaways, Woolworth’s Fakeaway Recipes, New World, Ocado and Aldi all have Fakeaway recipes available for customers.
In the last 12 months, the term Fakeaway has been most popular in Google searches from the UK, followed by Ireland, Australia and then New Zealand. Canada, India, Germany and Vietnam have had a small amount of interest, however, the term has not caught on in the USA. The most common trends within the realm of fakeaways are vegan and low-calorie meals. Salt and chilli chicken, KFC, korma, honey chicken and naan are all popular specific recipes.
Salt and chilli chicken, or the fakeaway dish the word is fascinated with, is a lightly battered chicken often served on a bed of rice or with stir-fried vegetables and seasoned with a Chinese salt and chilli spice mix.
“Curries and burger recipes would be my most requested fakeaways, both of which can be made a lot cheaper at home and delicious recipes that don’t need to be complicated. Keep it simple, and people are much more likely to give it a go at home,” said Lynch.
