What We Eat Shapes Who We Are
What people across 40 countries reveal about comfort, curiosity, and the quiet identity work happening on our plates
We do not just eat to fill time. We eat to mark days, to manage stress, to celebrate, toremember where we come from, to feel like ourselves again.
If someone looked at your meals for a week, what would they learn about your life?
- Fast-paced
- Careful
- Curious
- Comfort-seeking
- Social
To understand how food culture is shifting,we studied opinions and inputs from 185,467 people across 40 countries about how they eat, how adventurous they feel, what cuisines they love, how strongly food expresses identity, how often they explore global flavours, how frequently they order online, and what actually nudges them to try something new.
Now, it’s your turn!
1. Most people live in a mixed food routine, not a strict one
Nearly half of respondents (46.7%) mix home-cooked meals with outside food. Almost as many (44.6%) eat mostly home-cooked. Only a small share mostly eat out (3.6%).
So the modern plate looks less like tradition on a schedule, and more like tradition on demand. Home food stays, but it moves around the week.
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Why this matters:
This is how familiar food survives modern pace. It becomes less about habit, and more about emotional return.
Here’s a question for you!
2. Curiosity is high, but comfort still decides how far people go
On a 1 to 5 adventurousness scale, 39% say they are full explorers (5), and 35.9% say they are pretty adventurous (4). That is roughly three in four leaning into new flavours. Yet 20.4% sit in the middle, open but cautious.
Here is the uncomfortable reframe:
Being “not adventurous” is often not about taste. It is about emotional bandwidth. When life already feels demanding, familiar food becomes a form of relief.
Seen together, the answers suggest something simple. Exploration rises when people feel steady enough to risk disappointment.
Quick question!
3. Global choice is growing, but local food still wins the heart
Favourite cuisines show a clear lead for local and regional food (25.2%). Indian cuisine follows strongly (20.6%), then Asian cuisines (14.4%), then Western (12.8%). Fusion ranks lowest (7.8%).
This is not a rejection of global flavour. It is a reminder of what people use food for.
You can enjoy global food. But when you want to feel like yourself, you return to what carries your story.
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What’s your take?
4. For most people, food is identity, not just preference
81.4% say food strongly expresses identity. Only 1.5% say it does not.
That number is not just cultural pride. It is daily life. Meals become a language for belonging: festival dishes, weekend rituals, recipes that travel across cities and borders.
If you line these answers up, one signal is hard to miss. In a world that changes quickly, food remains one of the most reliable ways people stay connected to who they are
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What do you think?
5. People explore global cuisines, but most do it in “safe doses”
Nearly three-fourths explore global cuisines at least occasionally: 24.5% very often, 49.1% sometimes. But 21.9% rarely and 4.5% never.
That “sometimes” is the main story. It suggests that exploration is real, but moderated by affordability, availability, dietary habits, and comfort.
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Why this matters:
Exploration is becoming normal, but it does not replace the foundation. People expand their palate without giving up their anchor.
Now, it’s your turn!
6. Food delivery is now weekly for many, and that changes more than menus
40.8% order food online weekly. 22.5% do it monthly. 28.4% rarely. 8.3% never.
Delivery is not just convenience. It is a new rhythm. But it also raises a quieter question.
Here is the gentle challenge:
If delivery is becoming your default, is it saving time, or quietly replacing care?
Not everyone wants to cook. Not everyone has time. Still, cooking has always been more than food. It is a pause. A ritual. A small form of control in a busy week.
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Here’s a question for you!
7. New food spreads through trust, not advertising
Curiosity (23.8%), friends (20.4%), and reviews (17.8%) lead the reasons people try new foods. Discounts (14.6%) and trending (14.0%) matter, but less. Ads are lowest (9.4%).
The shared signal is clear. Food discovery travels through people. A trusted “you should try this” is stronger than any promotion.
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Quick question!
8. Comfort food is the most universal behaviour, even when dishes differ
Top comfort foods include pizza, pasta, biryani, dal-chawal, fried chicken, jollof, rajma-rice, pav bhaji, fish & chips.
Different dishes, same emotional job.
Comfort food is memory you can eat. It is what people return to when they want to feel safe, familiar, grounded.
What’s your take?
What this collectively suggests
Put together, these opinions say something quietly hopeful.
The world is becoming more open to flavour. People are experimenting more. They are exploring beyond borders.
But they are not drifting away from identity. In fact, the more options people have, the more clearly they seem to value what feels authentic, familiar, and rooted.
Curiosity is growing. Comfort is staying.
What do you think?
Read the insight story?
So, here’s a survey readily available for you! Do you want to participate?
Disclaimer:
These insights are not just for brands; they are for anyone trying to understand how decisions are made in 2025-26. The more people share, the clearer the picture becomes.
FAQs
1. Are people eating more at home or outside?
Most people live in a mixed routine: home-cooked meals combined with outside food. A very small share mostly eats out.
2. Are people becoming more adventurous with food?
Yes. Around three in four rate themselves as highly or fairly adventurous, though a significant middle group remains cautious.
3. Why do local cuisines still dominate?
Because local food carries memory, identity, and emotional comfort. Global choice expands options, but belonging still pulls people back.
4. What does it mean that 81% say food expresses identity?
It suggests food is a daily expression of heritage, community, and self-definition, not just preference.
5. How often do people explore global cuisines?
Most do it at least sometimes. Many explore occasionally rather than constantly, influenced by comfort, affordability, and availability.
6. What makes people try new food most?
Curiosity, friends, and reviews lead. Trust and social proof matter more than advertising.
7. Is food delivery changing behaviour?
Yes. Weekly ordering is common, making delivery part of routine. But many still order rarely or never, showing a continued tension between convenience, cost, and health.
