Why are consumers avoiding food and beverage outlets?

1 in 2 stopped ordering from F&B outlets after learning of poor hygiene.

Unhygienic practices are turning one in two Australians away from food and beverage outlets, a survey by YouGov reveals.

According to YouGov, the survey comes after a video footage of a staff member of a fast food restaurant drying a mop floor under the heat lamps used to warm French fries and standing on a food preparation area with work boots on made the news.

Research reveals that younger Australians are more concerned about food hygiene with 66% of Gen Z and 64% of Millennials saying they have avoided dining establishments due to hygiene reasons compared to just over half of Gen X (54%) and less than half of Baby Boomers (45%).

When asked to highlight factors that indicate a dining establishment is sanitary, three-quarters of Aussies say visible cleanliness of the outlet (76%) would assure them about the upheld hygiene standards.

About three in five said they would be reassured knowing the F&B outlet follows best practices in food handling and storage (62%) and observing service staff practise good hygiene (58%). Meanwhile, businesses that display food safety inspections and certifications also assure two fifths (39%) of Aussies.

This research also found that restaurants and cafés generally enjoy the best hygiene perception in Australia, whilst food courts and fast-food chains are least likely to be seen as hygienic.

Almost three in five (59%) Aussies think restaurants in their neighbourhood are quite / very hygienic, whilst half (51%) of Aussies say the same for cafés. In comparison, closer to a third have similar views of their local pubs/bars (32%) and fast-food chains (30%), ahead of a quarter for food courts (26%). 

On the other hand, almost a quarter of Aussies think that food courts (25%) and fast-food chains (24%) in their neighbourhood are quite / very unhygienic – compared to a sixth for local pubs/bars (16%) and less than a tenth for cafés (8%) and restaurants (6%).

More than a third of Aussies say they have witnessed first-hand hygiene safety issues at fast-food chains (37%) and food courts (36%) in their neighbourhood before.

In comparison, close to three in ten have personally observed lapses in hygiene practices at local pubs/bars (28%), whilst around a quarter have seen the same at restaurants and cafés (both 26%).

YouGov’s study was conducted online in June 2024, with a national sample of 1,001 Australian residents, using a questionnaire designed by YouGov. Data figures have been weighted by age, gender, and region to be representative of all adults in Australia (18 years or older) and reflect the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) population estimates.

* all charts from YouGov.