Retro School Dinners Brits Wish Would Make a Comeback
A new study by Alliance Online finds the most missed childhood favourites
Whether you loved them or loathed them, childhood school dinners are a nostalgic trip down memory lane.
To reminisce on what school dinner Brits miss the most, a new study from Alliance Online has ranked the top 30 school dinner favourites, according to how many Brits are still pining for them, to see if there are differentiating trends around the UK.
Trifle came out on top as the most memorable school dinner staple, with 33,100 Brits searching every month.
This is closely followed by rice pudding in second place and pinella upside-down cake in third, both boasting 27,100 monthly searches across the UK.
Despite them being banned for almost 20 years, the renowned turkey twizzlers rank ninth for what Brits miss the most, with 12,100 Brits still searching for them.
Even though square pizza is the 10th most popular school dinner staple across the UK, it ranks as number one in Wales.
Rank |
School dinner food |
*UK Searches |
*Searches in England |
*Searches in Scotland |
*Searches in Wales |
*Searches in Northern Ireland |
1 |
Trifle |
33,100 |
27,100 |
1,000 |
1,900 |
590 |
2 |
Rice pudding |
27,100 |
22,200 |
1,000 |
1,600 |
390 |
3 |
Pineapple upside-down cake |
27,100 |
22,200 |
1,000 |
1,600 |
320 |
4 |
Jam roly poly |
22,200 |
18,100 |
720 |
1,300 |
390 |
5 |
Arctic roll |
18,100 |
18,000 |
880 |
1,000 |
260 |
6 |
Cornflake tart |
18,100 |
14,800 |
880 |
880 |
320 |
7 |
Angel Delight |
18,100 |
14,800 |
590 |
320 |
320 |
8 |
Fish fingers |
14,800 |
12,100 |
480 |
720 |
260 |
9 |
Turkey twizzlers |
12,100 |
12,100 |
390 |
590 |
110 |
10 |
Square pizza |
12,100 |
9,900 |
480 |
590 |
110 |
11 |
Manchester tart |
12,100 |
9,900 |
720 |
260 |
50 |
12 |
Lancashire hotpot |
12,100 |
9,900 |
390 |
880 |
170 |
13 |
Viennetta |
9,900 |
9,900 |
210 |
260 |
40 |
14 |
Gypsy tart |
9,900 |
8,100 |
1,900 |
140 |
30 |
15 |
Potato waffles |
9,900 |
8,100 |
390 |
880 |
320 |
16 |
Chocolate concrete |
8,100 |
8,100 |
140 |
140 |
30 |
17 |
Semolina pudding |
8,100 |
6,600 |
260 |
720 |
170 |
18 |
Turkey dinosaurs |
5,400 |
4,400 |
260 |
390 |
110 |
19 |
Spam fritters |
5,400 |
4,400 |
140 |
320 |
40 |
20 |
Iced bun |
5,400 |
4,400 |
210 |
210 |
70 |
21 |
Spaghetti hoops |
4,400 |
3,600 |
170 |
320 |
140 |
22 |
Caramel cake |
3,600 |
2,900 |
110 |
480 |
50 |
23 |
Sponge pudding |
2,900 |
2,900 |
110 |
170 |
20 |
24 |
Cheese pie |
2,900 |
2,900 |
110 |
140 |
20 |
25 |
Fruit jelly |
2,900 |
2,400 |
110 |
170 |
40 |
26 |
Pink custard |
2,400 |
1,900 |
210 |
140 |
70 |
27 |
Alphabetti spaghetti |
1,900 |
1,900 |
140 |
110 |
40 |
28 |
Coconut jam cake |
1,900 |
1,600 |
70 |
140 |
40 |
29 |
Mint custard |
1,600 |
1,600 |
30 |
30 |
10 |
30 |
Potato smiles |
1,000 |
880 |
40 |
90 |
20 |
*Searches are based on the average monthly searches in each nation.
Commenting on the findings, Rachael Kiss from Alliance Online said:
“Our study shows just how much school dinners continue to cause up a stir across the UK and that they have such an imprint on our childhood. It has been eye-opening to see the regional differences of school dinner foods across the UK and how foods translate north-south and across each nation.”
Alliance Online have conducted this study to highlight what school dinner staples are missed the most across the UK. If your school is looking for catering supplies, check out Alliance Online’s range of products here.
For more information, please visit their blog post on the topic here.
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