food_delivery_revolution.mp3
food_delivery_revolution.pdf
BBC LEARNING ENGLISH
6 Minute English
The food delivery revolution
Neil
Hello This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English I’m Neil
Georgina
And I’m Georgina I’m going to order some takeaway food, Neil, do you want
?anything? Maybe a pizza? Fish and chips? Indian curry
Neil
Hmmm, takeaway food to eat at home – that’s a great idea Yes, I’ll have a poké
bowl, please
Georgina
What’s that? It doesn’t sound like typical takeaway food
Neil
It is nowadays, Georgina! Over the last few years the explosion of food delivery
apps like Deliveroo and Just Eat has seen a revolution in takeaway food Today
it’s not just pizza and curries being delivered to people’s front door – there’s a
wide range of food dishes and styles from around the world
Georgina
And with cafés and pubs closed during lockdown, more and more food chains
and restaurants are switching to delivery-only services – takeaways – to bring
meals to people who are isolating
Neil
Over the last few weeks many takeaway companies have seen orders increase
dramatically as people find themselves stuck at home due to the coronavirus
pandemic But what are they choosing to eat? That’s my quiz question for today,
:Georgina – last year what was Deliveroo’s most ordered dish? Was it
?a) Hawaiian Poké bowls
b) Cheeseburgers? or
?c) Chicken burritos
Georgina
I would have thought it was ‘fish and chips’, but I’ll go with b) Cheeseburgers
Neil
OK, we’ll find out later if you were right One consequence of the increasing
popularity of takeaways is something called ‘dark kitchens’ Unlike apps such as
Deliveroo and Just Eat which connect customers to local takeaways, these digital
‘dark kitchens’ work as just-for-delivery restaurants Inside, chefs cook in
kitchens without waiters, tables or diners, preparing high-quality dishes ready for
delivery straight to your home
Georgina
One of the first ‘dark kitchen’ operations, Taster, was started by chef Anton
Soulier who in 2013 was working for Deliveroo when it was just a tiny company
operating only in London Now he’s in charge of twelve kitchens catering for
customers in London, Paris and Madrid
Neil
Sheila Dillon of BBC Radio 4’s The Food Programme went to the Bethnal Green
area of east London find out more
Sheila Dillon
When you go on the Taster website the restaurant names are virtual, all of them
sold as ‘designed for delivery’ by Taster What that means is all the menus, drawn
up by serious chefs are designed to travel well, chosen so they’ll be warm, retain
their texture and won’t look like a dog’s dinner when they come off the back of a
bike So strangely the delivery, the bike, has become a shaper of the foods we
eat
Neil
All the restaurants on Taster are virtual – existing online and created by
computers to appear like the real thing
Georgina
Chefs cook the dishes using recipes and ingredients designed to travel well - be
transported a long way without being damaged or their quality being spoiled
Neil
That’s to avoid the takeaway food ending up like a dog’s dinner - an informal way
to say something that looks messy or has been very badly done
Georgina
Usually the takeaways are transported in a box on the back of a delivery cyclist
who rushes them from the kitchen to the customer’s home It’s a very modern
way of eating, which Sheila thinks has become a shaper of the foods we eat –
meaning that it has a strong influence on how a situation develops
Neil
However some are worried that the increase in takeaways and delivery-only food
means people are losing basic cooking skills It’s something that Taster boss
Anton has noted too
Anton Soulier
There is a strong underlying trend that maybe, in twenty, thirty years people
won’t have kitchens – and it’s already happening in the US for example I love
cooking, it’s one of my passions but I’m rarely doing it - occasionally on Sundays
and everything as it’s almost going to become a weekend hobby
Georgina
People choosing to eat takeaways instead of cooking at home has become an
underlying trend – a general development in how people behave which is real
but not immediately obvious
Neil
And in the future, cooking at home may even switch from being a daily necessity
to a hobby – an activity someone does in their spare time for pleasure or
relaxation
Georgina
I do enjoy tucking into a takeaway sometimes but personally I couldn’t survive
without my kitchen, Neil
Neil
Ah, but could you survive without Deliveroo? Remember in today’s quiz question
I asked you what Deliveroo’s most ordered dish was
Georgina
I said b) Cheeseburgers
Neil
But the correct answer was a) Hawaiian Poké bowls – a Hawaiian version of sushi
Georgina
Now that’s something I couldn’t cook at home!
Neil
Today we’ve been discussing the revolution in takeaways and home-delivered
food which in recent years has become an underlying trend - a general
development in how people behave, or in this case, eat
Georgina
Another trend has been the creation of virtual restaurants – online restaurants
which look like the real thing but exist only on the internet
Neil
Chefs create dishes using ingredients which travel well - can be transported a
long way without being damaged or spoiled That’s so the customer doesn’t end
up with a dog’s dinner - an informal expression meaning something messy or
badly done
Georgina
Recent developments like high-quality restaurant meals being delivered by bike
are shapers of modern eating – things that have a strong influence on how a
situation develops
Neil
All of which means that cooking may soon become just a hobby – an activity
someone does in their spare time for pleasure or relaxation, for example
cycling…
Georgina
or learning English
Neil
That’s all we have time for today Happy cooking and goodbye for now!
Georgina
Bye!
VOCABULARY
virtual
created by computers to appear like the real thing
travel well
be transported a long way without being damaged or its quality being spoiled
a dog’s dinner
an informal way to say something that looks messy or has been very badly done
shaper
something that has a strong influence on how a situation develops
underlying trend
general direction or development in how people behave which is real but not
immediately obvious
hobby
activity someone does in their spare time for pleasure or relaxation
