WITH pubs, cafes, and restaurants welcoming customers back to indoor dining, Brits are able to sit down with some of the foods they missed the most while waiting for restrictions to be lifted.
In a survey conducted by BAT for VELO at the height of lockdown, the UK’s favourite smells were revealed, along with the smells that the UK missed the most whilst staying safe at home.
The smells of our favourite foods and drinks make up four of the top 10 most-missed smells.
Fresh bread baking in bakeries is the second most missed smell overall, with a quarter of the population missing this unmistakable scent.
Similarly, 13% of the UK miss the smell of a Sunday pub lunch, and 12% miss the scent of fried chips.
When it comes to overall favourite smells across the UK, freshly baked bread beats everything else to the top of the board in most regions around the country.
However, in the North East, the smell of frying bacon came out on top.
Whilst in Wales, Yorkshire and the Humber, and the East Midlands, the smell of fresh coffee sits firmly as the favourite smell.
Looking at different ages, those aged 18-24 miss the sweeter things in life more than anything else during lockdown, with vanilla, chocolate, and fresh doughnuts amongst their top smells.
Those aged 25-34 were the only age group to admit to enjoying the smell of freshly washed clothes, and the 45-54s were the only group to rate the smell of a Sunday roast amongst their favourite aromas.
The over 55s miss the finer things in life, the top 5 for this age group combines these five prominent smells; fresh bread, fresh coffee, frying bacon, freshly cut grass, and the seaside.
VELO also looked at the UK’s worst smells, and unsurprisingly, the smell of vomit was widely agreed to be the worst.
This is particularly true for females with 69% agreeing vomit is the most awful smell, while 55% of men rate sewage as their worst smell.
Almost half of the UK went on to note that the smell of rotten milk also sits firmly in this list, followed by body odour and public toilets.
Mia Kjaeras Birkenfeldt, VELO Brand Manager said: “As the UK has been in and out of lockdown, we’ve all grown to appreciate the smaller things in life but still miss even the tiniest of things from our “normal” lives before the pandemic.
“Smell – like taste – is such a large receptor and just one small smell can bring back so many memories.
“This is why Velo wanted to find out what really are our favourite smells and what we’ve been missing the most while staying at home.
“It’s interesting to see that we’re missing the smell of the seaside the most, and we’re sure everyone will be happy to see the opening of cafes and coffee shops again, so we can enjoy the smell of fresh bread and coffee once more.”
