We all have a favourite sandwich. For Ross Geller on Friends, it was a turkey sandwich with a “moist maker” – an extra slice of gravy soaked bread in the centre. And in Seinfeld, Kramer’s character just could not eat a sandwich without Dijon mustard.
Contract Testing’s most recent consumer survey looked at sandwich preferences: do consumers prefer to bring sandwiches for lunch? When they eat at a fast food restaurant, do they order a sandwich, salad or wrap? If they were to create the perfect sandwich (like Kramer or Ross), what would the key ingredients be?
Here’s what we found:
Work Lunch
• 53 per cent of respondents said that some days they bring a lunch and some days they buy a lunch; 18 percent bring a lunch; 8 per cent purchase a lunch and just 2 per cent said they didn’t eat lunch at all.
• More than 35 per cent of respondents preferred a sandwich for lunch over leftovers (33 per cent), a frozen entrée (18 per cent) or salad (10 per cent).
• Other preferences for lunch included: a collection of snacks, yogurt and/or cottage cheese, protein shake and all of the above.
• For lunch on the go, respondents preferred a hamburger (36 per cent) or a wrap (22 per cent) or regular sandwich (17 per cent).
Specific Sandwich preferences
• The ham and cheese sandwich was a favourite for nearly 50 per cent of respondents; followed by a BLT (40 per cent), Tuna salad (39 per cent), Chicken salad (40 per cent) and Roast Beef (33 per cent).
• Less popular sandwiches include: bologna (11 per cent), veggie with or without cheese (11 per cent) and Pastrami or Corned Beef (16 per cent).
• Less than 4 per cent of respondents said they would not bring a sandwich to work for lunch.
• In terms of bread, more than half of respondents preferred whole wheat bread to white (24 per cent) and rye (11 per cent).
• An English muffin is least popular sandwich bread (less than 1 per cent preferred).
• Many of our respondents added that they would prefer bread that is gluten-free.
The Perfect Sandwich
Finally, we asked respondents to tell us about their “perfect sandwich” and here are some of the amazingly delicious ideas they had to share with all of you:
• Veggie sandwich with a soya patty
• Crispy chicken sandwich with lettuce
• Pulled pork with bacon
• Egg salad with bacon
• Roasted or grilled veggies, hummus, avocado on a sun dried tomato wrap
• Chicken salad with nuts and dried cherries on a croissant
• Bacon sandwich with turkey or maybe ham. I would also add fresh slices of pineapple. And I would add some peanut butter for added kick!
• Chicken, bacon, Caesar dressing, feta cheese, tomato
• Grilled steak sliced thin with spinach garlic aioli with hot peppers pickles and tomatoes
• Honey Turkey, Ham, lettuce, bacon, pickles, green peppers
• Arugula, turkey or chicken, tomato, mayo
• A nice Italian bread with lots of mayonnaise, lettuce, chicken slices, with ketchup, BBQ sauce, tomato, some ground beef, two pickles, some more lettuce and a roast beef slice to top it off
• Savory waffle with Bacon lettuce tomato, with Mayo and a grain mustard
• Turkey, goat cheese, arugula, tomato, pesto mayo
We want to hear about your favourite sandwich and much more! Visit www.contracttesting.com/testers today and sign up to be a tester. You’ll get paid to share your ideas and opinions with us.