Customers at YO! will be offered Finger Lickin’ Gloves with their fried chicken this Christmas, as the Japanese restaurant looks to help the 26% of Brits put off finger food due to a fear of messy fingers.
New research from YO! has found messy and noisy eating is British bugbear with 82% of Brits admitting they prefer not to invite a loud eater for dinner this Christmas than have a slurper or chomper in their company.
It’s considered respectful in Japan, but slurping your gravy in the UK is risky, as 64% of Brits say noisy eating is the most annoying habit of all time.
Messy eating is also a bugbear, with 1 in 5 of Brits put off eating finger food like pigs in blankets and fried chicken due to a fear of getting sticky fingers.
Christmas jumpers being stained and feeling self-conscious at parties are reason enough to reduce the number of Brits at the buffet.
The foods that are most likely to be avoided over the Christmas season due to the mess are fried chicken (39%), camembert (34%), and filo parcels (31%).
So that Brits can enjoy a festive feast risk-free, YO! have introduced their Finger Lickin’ Gloves across restaurants in the UK for guests eating Japanese Fried Chicken buckets (JFC) over the Christmas period.
Finger gloves have been trialled in Japan previously, but this is the first time the move has come to UK shores. The Finger Lickin’ Gloves are made from recycled materials, and are reusable and recyclable.
Dr. Jane McCartney, an expert in human behaviour, says, “It’s perfectly natural and completely expected that so many of us find messy and noisy eating frustrating, but what’s important is how we cope with it and learn to embrace our loved ones’ habits. At Christmas, we eat a lot – so managing our response to messiness is incredibly important if you want to avoid rows over the dinner table!”
Victoria Mathers, Head of Restaurant Marketing at YO! Sushi, added, “We want everyone to be able to tuck in and enjoy plenty of festive feasts over the Christmas season without worrying about getting messy, which is why we’ve developed our Finger Lickin’ Gloves. With fried chicken ranked the messiest food, we want to make sure everyone can enjoy our delicious JFC mess-free!”
