Fast food: a growing gastronomic trend

Fast food is a concept that lies between us all. For a variety of reasons, no one ever gets static when they hear the term.Pizza, hamburgers or chips, to name but three typical fast food dishes, have the power to awaken anyone’s taste buds, even when we have just eaten.But what is behind fast food? Why do we like it so much? What is happening with this gastronomic proposal nowadays?Stay with us and discover everything about fast food, a gastronomic trend that is very well positioned in the restaurant, hotel and catering sector.

What is fast food?

Fast food is a gastronomic concept whose the basic concept is the rapid preparation and consumption of food.For years, the concept has been linked to food restaurants known as “junk food”: hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, fried chicken, among others.However, as a counterbalance to this trend fast food options based on healthy recipes are growing, as a varied offer of salads.Another of the basic characteristics shared by fast food restaurants is the lack of table service.There is a staff that takes care of the reception and delivery bar, cleaning and customer service, but there is no table service. That is to say, diners pick up their order at the bar and sit wherever they want.

A little history of fast food

Although the global fast food boom is a recent development, the history behind this concept is much longer than is often thought.For example, in ancient Rome and India the concept of fast food is used for many generations.The Romans had fast food stalls, where you could eat bread preparations with olives or falafel. This custom spread throughout the territory belonging to the Roman Empire.For their part, the Indians used fast food as a technique for serving and eating your food quickly on the street.Beyond this historical legacy of fast food, the current concept is considered to come from the time of the 1940s. In the United States, direct-to-car food service was developed.Yes, as we see in Hollywood movies, people would arrive at a restaurant with their car, park, wait to be served and eat in their car.From that movement, the West began to accept and consume fast food in large quantities But not always, the fast food-consumer relationship was a honeymoon.At the end of 1990, movements against fast food began to emerge, in principle, because of the marked tendency to sell foods with low nutritional levels.

Magic formula: sugar, fat and salt

The fast food boom awakens studies and is, most of the time, under the keen eye of society. But Why does it maintain its popularity and continue to gain followers?According to studies, fast food awakens points of happiness in diners. In other words, when we eat fast food we are happy.How is this reaction possible?The union of sugars, salts and fats, in the same food and in high quantities, wakes up and produces an automatic feeling of happiness, as if it were a drug.Usually, in a fast food plate, you can find large amounts of fat, sugar and salt, and even exceed the maximum daily consumption.

Obesity and fast food

In 2004, Morgan Spurlock presented to the world “Super Size Me” or “Super Engage Me”, a documentary that shows the effects of eating -breakfast, lunch and dinner- food from a well-known fast food restaurant.Spurlock began the documentary as a thin and healthy man. After undergoing a daily intake of 5000 calories, the change was evident. Both outside and inside the documentary filmmaker.By the end of the film, Spurlock had more than 11 kg overweight, sexual dysfunction, liver problems and sudden mood swings, among some of the symptoms of eating fast food.Behind those tasty French fries, big glasses of cold drinks and juicy burgers, there’s a lot of fat, sugar and salt.Many of them are consumed without knowledge, although after the boom of Spurlock’s documentary, fast food restaurants agreed to start publishing nutritional information for their meals.

Fast food gourmet

Fast food restaurants have been able to resist the blows of movements that oppose the foundations of their culture: ask, eat and go.In the midst of this whirlwind, the fast food gourmet is born, a concept that, under the foundations of preparing, serving and eating quickly, are committed to recipes that seek to offer superior quality.The fast food gourmet uses quality ingredients, from local farmers and ranchers, thus promoting the integral growth of the places where they are located.In addition to supporting food producers, the intention is to present a proposal that is the opposite of the traditional fast food The approach is to use 100% real foods, omitting the use of processed foods and convenience foods.Another characteristic that identifies fast food gourmet foods is their international focus. Sauces, condiments, preparations, ingredients and recipes from all over the world are included in the menus of these types of restaurants.Finally, the fast food gourmet pays a lot of attention to offer a pleasant service for the diner. The idea is to reduce the concept of a fast food restaurant with fast food and ambience.This aspect of fast food can serve delicious hamburgers, pizzas, sandwiches or any preparation, but with much higher quality and without the caloric weight of traditional fast food.Without a doubt, this is a movement that can be taken into account when you want to open or transform the gastronomic offer you have in your restaurant, being more responsible with your clients.

Special packaging for fast food

If you are dedicated to fast food and want to start by offering a different experience to your guests, you can start with a review of the packaging you are using in your restaurant.For this reason, we invite you to visit Single-useOur online shop specialises in the marketing of products for restaurants, hotels and catering services.In our section of Take Away, Delivery & Food Truck PackagingYou can find everything you need in your restaurant.Containers for sandwiches, noodles, hot dogs, hamburgers, tacos, churros, are just some of the quality options you will find in our shop.Furthermore, aware of the importance of brand consolidation for this type of business, we offer you the service of customising your products, so that you receive quality and distinction in a single package.What are you waiting for? visit Monouso and start working on a new way of feeding your customers.