The COVID‐19 Pandemic and Consumption of Food away from Home: Evidence from High‐frequency Restaurant Transaction Data

Abstract

This article investigates how the COVID‐19 pandemic and related public health measures affected the consumption of food away from home (FAFH) among Chinese consumers. We obtained access to the complete sales records from a major restaurant chain in China, for 111 sites located in 12 cities, covering over 5.6 million high‐frequency dining transactions made between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2020. By applying a high‐dimensional fixed‐effects model, we found that, on average, consumers spent more and ordered more calories (as well as carbohydrates, protein, fat, and sodium) after the COVID‐19 outbreak than in the pre‐COVID‐19 period. Our results do not support the hypothesis that COVID‐19 led to healthier eating behaviors during and after the pandemic. Our results underline the importance of nutrition education and awareness programs to mitigate unhealthy eating habits generated by the pandemic and of the continued role of FAFH after the pandemic.

What is known and what is unknown about food buying and consumption behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic? A systematic literature review

“…Controversial insights have emerged regarding the influence of COVID-19 on consumer food choice and consumption habits (Zhu et al , 2021). On one hand, the pandemic has made people more aware of the role that nutrition plays in preserving human health (Bahl et al , 2020; Amicarelli et al , 2021a; Marinković and Lazarević, 2021), prompting them to buy better quality food, also increasing their willingness-to-pay for it (Yue et al , 2021).…”

“…At the same time, feelings such as depression, discomfort, fear, sadness and anxiety have led people to adopt opposite behaviors, such as increased purchasing and eating of unhealthy food (Ben Hassen et al , 2021d). Research conducted on the consumption of food away from home (Zhu et al , 2021) reveals that restaurant patrons have tended to spend more and order more calorie-heavy food (i.e. more carbohydrates, protein, fat and sodium).…”

COVID-19 Sürecinde Ev Dışı Gıda Tüketiminin Değişimi (Change in Consumption of Food Away from Home During the Covid-19)

“…Satın alınan ev dışı gıda türü 15,4 8,1 22 2,8 1 -Kesinlikle Katılmıyorum; 2 -Katılmıyorum; 3 -Kararsızım; 4 -Katılıyorum; 5 -Kesinlikle Katılmıyorum İzolasyon ile evde çalışma, işsizlik ve online eğitim ile günlük rutinleri değiştirerek, sağlıklı beslenme kaygısı ile ev dışında yemek tüketimini olumsuz etkilerken bir yandan da evde kalım süresinin uzamasıyla eve siparişlerde artışa da neden olmuştur (Filimonau, Vi, Beer & Ermolaev 2022;Goolsbee & Syverson, 2021). Çin'de yapılan çalışmada tüketicilerin COVID-19 ortaya çıktıktan sonra COVID-19 öncesi döneme göre ortalama daha fazla ev dışı gıda harcaması yaptığı ve daha fazla kalori (karbonhidrat, protein, yağ ve sodyumun yanı sıra) içeren ürün sipariş ettiği belirlenmiştir (Zhu, Lopez, Gao & Liu, 2021).…”

Strategies for the sustainable development of China in the post‐epidemic era

“…The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) swept around the world after its outbreak in early 2020 (Bartik et al, 2020; Mazur et al, 2020; Umar et al, 2021; Wen et al, 2022; Yan et al, 2021; Zhang et al, 2021; Zhu et al, 2021) and has infected over 200 countries and territories around the world, making it the most widespread and devastating public health disaster in human history since the Spanish flu of 2018. Figure 1 presents the cumulative number of confirmed cases of COVID‐19 per million people.…”