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

1. “Eating out is cheaper than cooking at home!”: the transformation from household to market in food preparation in Taiwan

2. 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

3. Cost of eating out as percentage of total household food expenditures • 1987 10.9% • 1997 23.9% • 2007 33.3% • 2011 37.9%

4. Frequency of Buying Meals outside in One Month

5. 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

10. 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

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. Equipment • Reluctant attitude toward microwave ovens 1985 5.5% 2005 45% 2012 43% • Difficulty to clean rangehoods

17. 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.

18. 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

19. Changing female labour and long working time • Women’s labour force participation ratehas 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.

20. Average weekly work hours of labours, 2012

21. Types of food preparers in Taiwan

22. 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

23. 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

24. 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

25. 4. Ready-made food lovers • Individual diners • Prefer dining at home to dining out • Too busy to go out for meals • Frozen festive dishes

27. 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.

28. Conclusion

29. 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.

30. 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