Cafe culture is in, pizza delivery is out and mono-eaters on the rise, food trend figures show

Lattes are in, sneaky late-night pizzas are out and mono-eaters are on the rise – these are some of the biggest changes to Australian eating habits over the past 10 years, a new survey shows.

The figures, released by Roy Morgan Research on Wednesday, confirm the rise in cafe culture and a shift in attitude towards which foods are regarded as healthy.

The research compared the culinary habits and attitudes of more than 24,000 Australians in January to December 2006 with more than 14,000 in the same period last year.

Nearly six out of 10 Australians aged 14 years and over visited a cafe for a coffee or tea at least once in a three-month period – a rise of nearly 8 percentage points over the past decade, from 51 per cent to 59 per cent.

Almost half (48 per cent) of us now eat at a cafe at least once per quarter – up from only 41 per cent a decade ago.

Australians have gone cold on pizza delivery, however, with less than a third (32 per cent) ordering a pizza to their home – a big drop from 44 per cent 10 years ago.

Attitudes to health and diet have also shifted: nearly 38 per cent of us were committed to a low-fat diet in 2006 compared with only 30 per cent today. Concerns about cholesterol also dropped (from 39 to 31 per cent), as did interest in calcium-rich foods (from 76 to 72 per cent).

On the other hand, awareness of flavour and unadulterated cooking has surged, with half of all Australians now preferring additive-free foods and agreeing "taste is more important than ingredients" (both up from 46 per cent).

The proportion of people who prefer to buy fresh or chilled produce also jumped 4 percentage points to 57 per cent, and interest in international foods jumped by 6 percentage points to 72 per cent.

Curiously, mono-eaters are on the rise, with the percentage of people who bought the same food every week increasing from 29 to 37 per cent.

Pubs are still popular – but for a meal rather than just a drink. Nearly 45 per cent of us ate at a pub at least once every three months (up from 39 per cent), whereas only 23 per cent went for a drink and passed on food (down from 27 per cent).

And while pizza delivery is on the decline, other home-delivered food saw a modest jump from 12.5 to more than 14 per cent. With the arrival of food-delivery services Foodora, Ubereats and Deliveroo, that trend is only set to continue.