Branston Targets Businesses on Its Mission to Save the UK’s Lunch Break

New research from Branston Pickle has revealed that the lunch break is a thing of the past, with a staggering 73% of working Brits reporting that they never manage to take a full 60 minutes away from their desk. In fact, the average UK worker will only leave their workspace seven times a month to step outside and get some fresh air. Unsurprisingly, the Covid-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on the UK’s lunch break habits, with one in four working Brits reporting that working from home shortened their lunch breaks even more when compared to pre-March 2020.

Following the new survey results, Wonderhood Studios and Branston have launched a ‘pickle plugin’ to help Brits reclaim their lunch break. Available for all consumers to download via the Google Chrome store, the plugin will pop-up during workers’ lunch hour and will appear as the iconic cheese and pickle sandwich. After all, the humble sandwich came out on top as the nation’s go to lunch option (67%), with the iconic cheese and pickle sarnie being the favourite sandwich of choice for almost a third (29%) of Brits. The plugin software will disable computers at lunchtime and encourage Brits to take that much needed break away from their desks.

As part of its mission to stop work eating our lunch break, Branston is using targeted OOH sites outside businesses to call for change. The provocative digital posters are being strategically placed outside large corporations and use humour and wit to poke fun at the businesses, whilst calling for them to take action and give their employees their lunch hour back. Lines include ‘@ L'Oréal Lunch, because you’re worth it’ and ‘@ HSBC Less spreadsheets. More spread condiments."

The campaign will also launch on social with CEOs, CMOs and MDs of big businesses posting their pledge on LinkedIn to help the UK reclaim its lunchbreak. The post will include the key stats behind the research and a link to download the pickle plug-in, encouraging others to do the same. 

Jack Colchester, director of data strategy, said: “Some people might argue that Branston Pickle should only have one brand purpose, and that purpose is to sell a product that tastes particularly nice with cheese. It wasn’t until lockdown happened and we started to see large volumes of people online complaining about their lunch breaks getting shorter that we felt it was time we made a stand. We can't stop global poverty, but we might be able to help stop work eating people's lunch. 

Angharad Wilson Dyer Gough, senior brand manager at Branston, said: “When we heard that the UK’s lunch breaks were under fire, we knew we had to do something to encourage office workers to take lunch away from their desks. We all know it’s easier said than done, but our research has shown its beneficial from both a mental wellbeing and work productivity standpoint to get outside and grab a sandwich. That’s why we’ve created our own Google Pickle Plugin to get more of the nation taking their lunch break and honour that time completely away from work calls and emails. It’s also no surprise to us that sandwiches remain the UK’s number one choice for midweek lunches – but where’s the fun in munching away at your desk?”