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| FUN FACTS "In the old days, it was ham and cheese or a Reuben". The sandwich business is booming, with $105 billion in sales last year. Chains grew at 6 to 8 percent, a rate twice that of fast food restaurants and the restaurant industry as a whole, said Joe Pawlak, an analyst at Technomic Inc., a restaurant industry research and consulting firm ..... "People want chef-driven sandwiches." The sandwich was invented as the original fast food in the 18th century. It is said to have come into being when the 4th Earl of Sandwich ordered sliced meats and cheeses to be served between two slices of bread because he did not have time for a proper meal. A recent American Dietetic Association/ConAgra Foods survey found that 35% of us eat lunch at our desks at work. That's a big percentage of the workforce. It represents tens of millions of people. It's also a niche whose surface has only been scratched by marketers. A new consumer survey suggests that 43 percent of Americans view lunch as the least important meal of the day – not only unimportant to health but also the least favorite meal of the day. At the same time, 58 percent of those surveyed said they would skip lunch if too busy. Half of all individuals surveyed view lunch as an opportunity to merely grab a quick bite or to keep working. Eight-two percent of those surveyed said they regularly spend 30 minutes or less on lunch; 43 percent spend as little as 15 minutes or less. And almost half of respondents said that they made “unhealthy” food choices for lunch. | ||||||||||||||||||
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