The Australian lifestyle is changing and as a result, so must our food industry. A snapshot of the future of food in Australia looks like this: healthy fast food, ready-made, fresh and delivered to fit the criteria of the growing culture of the fitness conscious, natural lifestyle savvy and time poor Australians.

Roy Morgan market research reports the modern Australian household consists of adults who are trying to balance the needs of family with a successful career. Time- poor Australians value convenience more than anything, opting for supermarket ready-made meals that are both low in calories and nutritionally balanced.

We have all seen fast food take a healthy spin to catering for the growing fitness and weight watching culture that is currently prominent. Supermarket brands offer many pre-prepared options that can easily be reheated, and fast food outlets offer low calorie and ‘healthier’ options. And if you thought the only way to get fresh fruit is from the local grocer, think again….Queensland farming family The Mackays have introduced Fruit Bar – a fast fruit vending machine that’s due to become a big hit for the health conscious but time poor!

The lack of time we’re all feeling also manifests itself in the foodservice industry – many of us don’t even have sufficient time to eat out anymore due to time constraints. As a result, many restaurants – even the fine dining kind – are offering take-away options for their customers. For those of us who do have the time to spare to sit down for a meal in a place other than home, it seems we only just scrape the time together – the 2014 Australian dining index found a massive 40% increase in online restaurant reservations, saving Australians time trying to book via phone and checking availabilities.

For Australians, time is of the essence and food retailers and food service operators need to respond accordingly. Surely, it’s hard to now imagine a food service industry without the internet, which certainly hasn’t always been the case. So we wonder, what other changes can we expect?