So then, are you a sucker or a muncher? Don’t be offended, it’s a genuine question. According to a national survey, Irish people are becoming more passionate about their eating styles, with 27 per cent of people admitting to eating food with their fingers and 33 per cent of us saving the best food on our plate until last.
Traditionally, we Irish have been viewed as conservative when it comes to eating etiquette and table manners (bar 3am kebab trips), however the Suckers v Crunchers survey has revealed we are indeed a nation of pleasure-seekers and apparently ‘approach our food as we would a lover’ – stalking it and getting angry if anyone else tries to have a gawk? Well, not exactly.
According to the survey results, 56 per cent of us like to eat one crisp at a time and 65 per cent lick their ice creams in a circular motion, which all indicate the use of delayed-gratification techniques, similar to picturing Susan Boyle in the nip when indulging in bedroom activities. As a further demonstration of our desire to prolong and intensify our eating pleasures, apparently just 7 per cent of the Irish like to crunch their sweets instead of sucking them, a huge difference compared to the horde of crunch-happy ‘real men’ in the JOE office.
The national survey (from a sample of over 500 people) also revealed a greedier side to Irish eating habits, with 45 per cent of us choosing to dunk our biscuits and 37 per cent eating them in one to two bites. If you can eat a Digestive in one bite, please feel free to send on footage of your heroics to the JOE office at the usual address. 10 per cent of Irish people even admitted to ‘eating’ the remnants of their packet of crisps by throwing their head back and tilting the packet into their mouths.
As part of their nationwide campaign to ascertain people’s Suckers vs. Crunchers mint-eating behaviour (we’re 80 per cent crunchers in the office, thank god), the minty men and women of Polo conducted the national survey from a sample size of over 500 people.
According to Nestle Ireland consumer category manager, Caroline Burton, “Everyone approaches food in a different way but we wanted to investigate exactly what individual eating techniques say about us as individuals and as a nation.”
