With the sun finally starting to make its presence felt the traditional British summertime rituals of the picnic and BBQ are beginning to return to cultural prominence. When deciding whether to break out the BBQ or pick up the picnic blanket, cultural insight may not be the first thing on your mind. While seemingly similar and sharing many key components, the cultural roles fulfilled by the picnic and BBQ occasions embody distinct sets of rituals and subtly different narratives of food and family, indulgence, and hospitality.

In order to fully unpack these differences, Sign Salad recently collaborated with our text analysis partners Relative Insight, to conduct a comparative semiotic language deep dive, looking at the nature of the online discussion of picnics and BBQs in the UK. Gathering online news articles as well as thousands of posts from forums and Reddit we can compare the discussion of BBQs and picnics at scale, unearthing deeply embedded cultural drivers and motivations behind these cherished occasions in UK food culture in order to unlock opportunities for brands.

Summer entertaining, including picnics and BBQs, has experienced something of a premium ‘glow up’ over the last few years, with increased cultural celebration of ‘picky bits’ and platters. But while both are premiumising, close analysis of cultural language data reveals important distinctions. Firstly, of the two gatherings, the BBQ is definitely the currently more ‘foodie’ and flavour centric occasion, with “taste” directly mentioned over 3x more for BBQs than for picnics.Increasingly BBQs move beyond burgers and bangers to embrace global influence, with Greek, Indian, Korean, American, Middle Eastern, and South American ‘inspired’ flavours all increasingly available to consumers. Transforming the BBQ from a space of familiarity and nostalgia, into an exploratory ritual.

That said, an exploratory spirit still drives the picnic occasion, as, while beyond the food itself, geography and location are mentioned nearly twice as much for picnics than for BBQs. This reveals a fundamental difference that while the food may push boundaries, the BBQ moment is built around home-based rituals of comfort, connection, and hospitality, while picnics are inherently more exploratory and focused on contact with the outside world.

This difference indicates an important divide in the cultural function of BBQs vs picnics. BBQs are held to facilitate social construction, with language referencing hospitality occurring 20% more in the discussion of BBQs than for picnics. Culturally social bonding is woven into the very fabric of the BBQ occasion. This is reflected in the fact that the fire necessary at the centre of a BBQ serves as a common metaphor for social ‘warmth’ and the ‘sparks’ of connection. Notably a BBQ is also something you “serve” to your guests, suggesting deference and interpersonal care, while at a picnic participants are more generally responsible for feeding themselves.

Instead of human connection, picnics frequently fulfil a desire for an escape into nature, with the online discussion of picnics, having references to wildlife occurring over 2.5x more than for BBQs, while parks and public green spaces are mentioned 4.5x more.

This reflects that choosing a location is usually the key consideration in picnic planning. The importance of being in nature makes the food somewhat secondary, but also places an emphasis on small format options, as seen with the rise of canned wine, and equipment that allows for easy portability, serving, and keeping food fresh. For food and drink brands and retailers, resealable and eco-friendly packs, Such as Two Farmers compostable crisp bags can further help to align with the underlying cultural motivations of picnics, the connection with and cherishing of nature, strengthening consumer appeal in this moment.

For BBQs, protein flavours are mentioned more than 6x more than in picnic discussion, with smoky flavours specifically coming up 8x more for BBQs than picnics, as you’d expect given the nature of the cooking. This focus on the flavours of meat and fire, as well as imagery of thick steaks and large platters or ribs and sausages, etc. aligns with deeply embedded, though exclusionary, cultural narratives connecting masculinity to fire and meat. This narrative results in the contrasting pejorative “soy boy” image, making the BBQ occasion a moment strongly connected to a dated archetype of male identity. In some cases, BBQ cooking is even expressed as a ‘no go’ area for women.

Pushing back against this narrative and opening up the BBQ space for more inclusive participation represents a clear opportunity for brands operating in this space.

In contrast, picnic foods and ‘picky’ bits, are increasingly associated with the viral ‘girl dinner’ trend circulating on social media, where participants showcase plates of olives, cheeses, salad and charcuterie. This links these foods and the related grazing rituals to a sense of femininity.

“Family” is also mentioned twice as much for picnics than BBQs, revealing culturally embedded biases concerning gender and family on both sides of the BBQ and picnic discussion.

While both picnic and BBQ foods have displayed significant innovation over the last few years, picnics in particular remain open to further cultural adaptation. While BBQs are discussed solely as a spring/summer occasion, there is cultural space for the picnic moment to extend into other seasons due to the versatility of the occasion and applicability of different foods like soup and pastries:

Finally, if we filter the discussion by social media vs news media, we see that a strong vein of downbeat British humour comes through in public discussion that is absent from the more polished media narrative. Language evoking negative emotions and experiences is referenced 3x more in social media discussion of picnics and BBQs compared to traditional media. Stories of clean washing tainted with smoke, picnic washouts and BBQs that fail to light are commonplace, though all shared with a touch of amusement. Bringing some of this realism, humour and the stoic British desire to “carry on regardless” into the narrative concerning picnics and BBQs can be a way for brands to bridge this gap between the media and social narratives to connect more meaningfully with consumers.

Overall it is clear that, whether the occasion goes swimmingly or is the later subject of humorous reflections, enjoyment and discovery are core narratives of picnics and BBQs that can be used to communicate both occasions. For picnics this sense of discovery should focus on place and the natural world, while BBQs instead prompt exploration of different cuisines, flavours and techniques.

3 Key Takeaways for Brands

  1. For summer food and entertaining occasions, motivations extend beyond simple sustenance to engage with narratives of enjoyment and discovery.

  2. While both are cherished British summer food occasions, brands looking to market toward the picnic and BBQ occasions, will benefit from understanding the subtly different cultural roles these occasions play, in order to ensure they are addressing deeply embedded cultural motivations.

  3. There are opportunities to innovate for BBQs by further exploring new cuisines, and opening up the space beyond masculine stereotypes, while picnic foods can embrace more eco-friendly packaging and seasonal options to further drive consumer appeal.

Mark Lemon, Director

Food, Fire, and Family: The cultural codes and rituals of summer entertaining