Follow him here.
These are the key trends evident in the UK’s high street restaurants revealed by the latest Menurama survey.
“Our chain restaurants are becoming much more innovative in terms of dishes and ingredients, partly to keep people interested, but also because consumers expect them as they now have more exposure to unusual foods through the supermarkets and TV cookery programmes,” commented Horizons’ director of services Paul Backman.
However, although the research, which surveys the menus of 115 high street operators across the UK, reveals a growing number of new dishes on menus, the top 10 most commonly listed dishes remains largely unchanged, with burger, pizza, and fish and chips once again filling the top three slots.
“While consumers like to think they will try something new when they eat out, often they opt for their old favourites, so the top 10 most commonly listed dishes don’t change much from year to year. However, the descriptions of them do - a burger, for instance, is more likely to be listed by weight and provenance and fish and chips are often described as being from a sustainable source. Some 39% of establishments now include calorie information on their menus or websites,” added Paul Backman.
Some of the most innovative dishes found on high street menus include:
The Menurama survey also shows that regional price disparities, which have traditionally meant that eating out tends to be more expensive in the south and cheaper in the north, are narrowing. “These price disparities are disappearing, largely because many of the chain restaurants now operate a single pricing structure across their whole estate. Operational costs are also levelling out across the country,” added Paul Backman.
Overall, the average price of a dish has risen nearly 3% year-on-year from £6.19 to £6.41, with the cost of a main course rising fastest in quick service and restaurant establishments. The average price for a three-course meal in a restaurant has risen 7.1% to £20.90, up from £19.52 last year, while a three-course meal in a pub now costs £16.15, up 4.2% from £15.50. In a quick service outlet – those offering takeaway or eat-in, or both, and where the customer generally pays on ordering - an average meal has risen by17.4% to £9.59, up from £8.17 in 2010.
Details of food provenance and local sourcing is also becoming more evident on menus. For example, Wayside Inns list Croxton Manor Cheddar & Ruddles Ale Tart, Smith & Jones has a Tuxford & Tebbutt stilton burger, Little Chef has a ‘rich steak and Abbot’s ale pie’ on its menu, as well as ‘outdoor reared British pork sausage’, while one independent gastro pub lists a ‘Herefordshire snail, chicken and smoked bacon pie’.
Other notable trends include ‘posh’ food and artisan food – with ‘posh chicken kiev’ on the menu at Ember Inns, ‘beer & posh burger with chips’ at Scream, ‘artisan alfonso mango sorbet’ at Las Iguanas and ‘artisan sorbetti’ at ASK.
However, the nation’s most regularly listed dishes remain surprisingly predicable, indicating that while customers like to try new dishes, many of them are happy ordering their old favourites.
View more information on top 10 dishes by downloading the full article.
]]>Traditional favourites are still fronting the list with burgers taking the top spot with pizza and fish and chips falling just short. Other popular choices in the list, which is comprised of dishes most commonly seen on pub, restaurant and hotel menus across the UK, included steak, chicken curry and roast dinner.
Following the announcement guests enjoyed the nation’s top ten dishes made healthier by using Quorn as the main ingredient and a selection from Alyn Williams’ renowned seven-course vegetarian taster menu. Quorn created some truly mouth-watering dishes, showcasing how you can enjoy delicious meals, while keeping them healthier.
Having announced the list, Paul Backman of the foodservice analyst Horizons shared his industry insight on the eating out market saying: “Healthy eating brands are making a big impression, making up almost 50% of menu items available in the UK. The growth of healthy concepts, such as Tossed, Chop’d and Leon is well underway as a result of consumer demand – and these are the ones to watch this year.”
“However, price is also important, with 70% of consumers stating this is the main determiner when eating out of home showing that value is driving the market. This year we’ll also see the de-formalisation of eating out accelerate, local sourcing and provenance continue to be important and the way operators engage with consumers change in tune with the development of social media and contactless payments.”
Also speaking at the event, nutritionist Amanda Ursell shared her views on the health problem of the nation and Vincent McKevitt, entrepreneur and founder of Tossed, shared his inspiration to create the fast-casual healthy eating brand, which has expanded rapidly to eight stores since opening in 2005.
Vincent said: “When the idea for Tossed came about quick, healthy options were restricted to sub-standard, boring products in the UK. I wanted to create a funky brand that offered value for money, tasty and interesting meals that would appeal to all. We were the first to put calorie labels on our menus – we’ve done it since the first shop opened its doors – but we don’t want to shove the healthy message down our customers’ throats. It’s about enjoying eating healthy options and getting the 80/20 balance of healthy foods and treats right.”
Download the full story.
]]>Innovation in the market, in terms of outlets and menus, is partly responsible for the sector’s buoyancy, along with the continued growth of coffee shops, managed food-led pubs and casual dining outlets.
This was the conclusion of a Horizons’ Annual Briefing, held this morning in London’s Armourers’ Hall, which outlined that the winners in the sector would be those operators who continued to invest in their product, developed a greater understanding of their customers, and opened new outlets.
Horizons’ managing director Peter Backman told the audience, made up of leading operators, food and drink analysts and foodservice suppliers, that while food and drink sales through the eating out sector had risen to a value of £42.8bn in 2011, there had been an actual decline when inflation was taken into account.
“But there is now some excitement in the market and sales are likely to grow by at least 1% over the next 18 months. By the end of this year they will return to 2006 levels, and by 2013 they will get back to 2008 levels. The signs are that things are beginning to level out – the population is growing, particularly amongst the restaurant-using over-40s, and employment is starting to rise. This is all good news for a sector that has performed better than the retail sector and emerged fairly unscathed from the downturn.”
Peter Backman said that the biggest growth area would be seen in the casual dining sector, where average spend was between £10-20. Currently worth some £1.9bn, casual dining is expected to grow by 3% this year. “This sector offers what the customer wants, at a price they can afford, and continues to adapt and change its offer to keep customers interested.”
Panellist Ian Sarson, group managing director of Compass Group, UK & Ireland, supported the fact the foodservice market was showing recovery. Corporate activity had shown a catastrophic decline in 2009, he said, with people even spending their money but not attending events. “We are now seeing a trickle back in terms of big sporting events,” he added.
Giving an overview of new eating out concepts, Horizons’ director of services Paul Backman identified that the most growth was evident in pub restaurants, healthy eating concepts, coffee shops, gourmet burger chains and Japanese quick service outlets. “There may be little growth in the sector overall, but there is plenty of innovation – the sector is in good shape as operators continue to invest in new concepts, adapt their menus, open new locations and examine their pricing structures with vouchers driving business. Locations are also changing as new start-ups look beyond the high street and find better sites in shopping centres and transport hubs. The challenge to the industry is to start to understand the consumer better – who they are, what they want and when they want it. Loyalty cards and voucher schemes offer the opportunity to find out much more about the customer.”
Horizons’ research has shown that while consumers look for novelty and innovation when they eat out, top of their list of concerns are quality, price and cleanliness, as well as quality of service. Compass’s Ian Sarson, rejected the traditionalnotion that service levels in the US were better that that of the UK: “The service industry in the US is seen as more of a profession in the US than the UK, but our people do service just as well. The reward-related US service sector has created a certain amount of superficiality, but genuine hospitality and genuine warmth is something we are world class at.”
]]>For the full top 10, click here.
1. The market has been depressed
The total eating out market has been broadly static for the last 3 years with total food and beverage sales currently valued at £42.8bn. (Source:: Horizons Market Structure and Trends 2011)
2. Eating out in the UK has become habit
Despite the recessionary effect, 72% of adults over 18yrs old still eat out, and this frequency has not been adversely impacted over the last 3 years. (Source: QuickBite 2012)
3. Whilst the frequency of eating out is down, spending is up
Through the recession consumers have become more discerning – still eating out, but doing so less frequently. (Source: QuickBite 2012)
4. The old favourites still top the bill!
Top 10 dishes that appear most frequently on menus are:
- Beefburger
- Pizza
- Fish & chips
- Chicken burger
- Rump steak
- Chicken curry
- Sirloin steak
- Grilled chicken
- Roast chicken
- Beef lasagne / sausage & mash
(Source: Menurama 2012).
5. Despite this, consumers are still looking for innovation on menus
Even though the same dishes re-occur, consumers are still looking for innovation on menus.
They want to be presented with a choice – whether in a full service, a quick service, or a pub restaurant.
Download the full report with the entire top 10 and further information about these top 5.
]]>“Brands such as Wagamama and Nando’s are those operating in the casual dining sector. These operators are profitable because of their fast turnover and high footfall, while cash-pressed customers are attracted by their value-conscious, reliable food. This is the market pubs need to emulate, where there is still opportunity for growth,” he said. “The big pub operators, such as Marston’s, Greene King, JD Wetherspoon and Mitchells & Butlers all now report food as over 40% of sales. However, food in pubs has lower margins than drink sales because of the higher cost of producing meals, consequently either pub food businesses need to charge more for their food, or the food model in pubs needs to change.”
Backman told the audience of foodservice investors and operators, that the pub sector must increase footfall, up-sell more, and improve efficiency by cutting costs. “There are areas of the eating out market in the UK that are under-represented – it’s about rethinking operational style and meeting the requirements of the new budget-conscious consumer. It makes sense for pubs to do the same. On the high street, brands such as Giraffe and and Pizza Express have continued to see strong sales throughout the recession. “The benefit of these brands is that many customers prefer their faster service, cheaper food and familiar menus, and because of this, operators are able to turn their tables more rapidly. I believe this is the market that pubs would be well served to explore,” Backman said.
Download the story.
]]>Lesser-known restaurant brands are regularly appearing in shopping malls alongside more established names such as Wagamama, Café Rouge and Nando’s, as operators are attracted by the high volume of customers in malls, seven-day week opening, long opening hours and the captive market. Malls are also increasingly providing family-based leisure facilities, offering foodservice outlets more opportunity to sell food and drink. Launching its latest Ones to Watch survey, Horizons notes that London’s new Westfield Stratford City mall, the UK’s 3rd largest mall, features at least 15 emerging brands which are showing rapid growth in the UK including café and bar concept Balans, Bumpkin (British restaurant), Cabana (all you can eat churrascaria casual dining), Caribbean Scene (Caribbean quick service), Comptoir Libanais (Lebanese café) and frozen yogurt outlet Pinkberry.
“There is a lot of competition amongst food outlets in malls, but securing sites within them is becoming vital for many quick service operators. The fact Westfield has long opening hours, over 300 retail outlets as well as onsite entertainment in the form of a bowling alley, casino and 14 screen cinema, ensures a high footfall of hungry consumers, especially families and teenagers. Westfield has over 70 foodservice outlets in seven designated areas and food is a vital part of the consumer offer,” commented Horizons’ director of services Paul Backman
Foodservice areas in malls vary not only in location - including both indoor and outdoor opportunities - but in type. They typically include food courts, kiosk-style dining outlets, food markets as well as fast-casual dining and
bar concepts aimed at the evening trade.
“Malls are becoming a microcosm of the high street, with all the big names represented as well as smaller, emerging chains. They are also unforgiving – if a unit doesn’t work within a mall, then it is unlikely to work on the high street, so operators find out quickly whether their concept has staying power. Knowing the demographics of each shopping centre enables mall operators, and outlet owners, to take a far more sophisticated approach in targeting their audience with the right offer,” Backman added.
Horizons’ Ones to Watch service tracks the emergence of new and expanding brands. To qualify for inclusion each brand must have between five and 25 outlets and experienced growth of at least 20% over the previous
three years combined. The survey, which is released by Horizons biannually, puts Byron, the gourmet burger brand, as the fastest growing concept of the past six months. Byron has expanded by 217% between 2009 and 2012, going from just six outlets in 2009 to 19 in 2012. Wildwood, Ed’s Easy Diner and Busaba Eathai are also showing significant outlet growth.
Key trends in the eating out market, identified by Horizons, include: the emergence of a number of street food concepts such as Wahaca and Luardos (Mexican), Mooli’s (Indian), NOW (Chinese), and Street Kitchen and Yalla Yalla (Lebanese); the growth of all you can eat Brazilian churrascaria (rotisserie) with brands such as Bem Brasil, Cabana, and Cabana Rodizio Preto; tea bars, demonstrated by concepts such as Leaf tea, Teacup, Tea Monkey and Teapod; as well as British-themed restaurants such as Bumpkin, Canteen and Union Jacks.
“We are also seeing a degree of flexibility as operators try different routes to market. For example, some mobile operators such as Daddy Donkey and The Meat Wagon/MEATliquor have added permanent sites,
while some fixed operators, such as Byron, have launched mobile units for outdoor use at festivals and events. “This is something we expect to see more of as foodservice operators recognise the brand value that mobile
units can bring,” added Paul Backman.
Download the full story.
]]>Clearly, the UK has a lot to learn from the other side of the Atlantic - or does it? Read our report to find out.
]]>
The survey, which quizzed people on their eating out habits over a two-week period at the end of 2011, showed a marked decline in the frequency consumers ate out – down to 2.1 occasions in December 2011 from 3.3 times last year. Over a quarter (27%) said they had not eaten out at all in the previous two weeks, with cost being the most commonly
cited reason.
However, while consumers may be cutting back on the number of times they eat out, they continue to spend more when they do – up from £10.29 a year ago to £13.80.
“We have noted the tendency of consumers to eat out less, but spend more for sometime and this appears to be an ongoing trend. It also seems consumers now need a good reason to eat out – such as a special occasion – and are less inclined to eat out as a matter of course or on impulse,” commented Emma Read, Horizons' Director of Marketing and Business Development. “Heavy snowfall last year makes it a bad year to compare with, but even so the frequency of eating out shows a significant decline, something we don’t expect to change throughout 2012. It is also clear from this research that cost is the key reason behind this fall.”
The QuickBite survey also reveals the emergence of a more discerning diner with the quality of food (79%) being the most mentioned factor when deciding where to eat out. Price came second (70%), followed by cleanliness (64%), standard of service (55%) and ambience (51%). An interesting and varied menu was important for 47% of respondents, while 41% choose a venue that won’t rush them.
Pub restaurants are the most common places to visit, accounting for 18% of all meals eaten out – up from 17% last year. Takeaway and delivery are the second most popular option, accounting for 14% of all eating out. But it seems that habit remains the strongest factor when choosing an eating out venue with 35% of respondents opting for a familiar venue, up from 31% in July 2011. For 17% the decision on where to eat out is an impulsive one.
Recommendations proved important in the choice of dining venue. Some 16% of respondents’ venue choices were influenced by recommendations and of those, 86% were from a friend or family member. Reviews or websites were mentioned as influential to 7% of respondents.
Average spend through the restaurant sector (including drinks) was £17 per head with pub restaurants coming in slightly cheaper at £15.80 per head. Average spend in a takeaway or delivery outlet is £11.
“Pub restaurants are slowly taking market share from other restaurants as consumers seek good value for money, a convenient location and a more casual eating out experience. We have also seen a huge improvement in the food offering of many pubs, particularly the big brands, which is proving popular with consumers. What’s clear in this market is that diners are becoming more demanding, but are loyal to their favourite outlets,” added Emma Read.
Download the full story.
]]>Many things are unknown – the numbers of visitors, the behaviour of Londoners, the impact of world and local events and many more.
Horizons have produced a report which comments on the known factors and speculates on the unknown. It attempts to bring some clarity to the outcomes as far as the eating out market is concerned and it lays out the ground for updates that Horizons plan to provide as the Olympics approach.
Download the full report.
]]>
Since the downturn began many eating out establishments have boosted customer levels by extending opening hours and offering new services such as breakfast, mid-morning coffee, afternoon tea - and even home delivery. Others have provided free wi-fi for customers, revamped their interior design, invested in staff training and introduced new styles of dishes such as sharing plates, smaller portions and healthier options.
A raft of new concepts have also emerged on the high street, as small, fledgling chains fill gaps in the market and create new areas of business, many taking advantage of cheaper high street rents. A common theme amongst the new brands is good quality, healthy food-to-go with Mexican and Japanese cuisines proving particularly popular. As a result the foodservice sector overall has proved remarkably resilient, with just a handful of high profile business failures since 2008.
However, as the downturn continues, Horizons warns that 2012 is likely to be a worse trading year for eating out than 2011, despite the influx of visitors generated by the Olympic Games in London and the Golden Jubilee.
“Although the number of corporate failures in the UK eating out sector has been fairly small, balance sheets have been stretched during 2011 and it will not take much to see the rate of failures rise, probably as early as the first quarter,” said Horizons’ managing director Peter Backman. “High street restaurant operators will continue offering customers discounts, meal deals and moneyoff vouchers to improve traffic, which will depress their profit margins, although the anticipated fall in food costs this year will help counteract the cost of discounts."
“The Olympic Games are likely to bring an uplift in sales for some foodservice outlets – most notably those with contracts at Olympic venues. However, operators outside the Olympic venues could see visitor numbers drop. If the UK sees 10% fewer visitors this year, compared to a normal year, the UK eating out market will be £100m worse off,” added Backman.
Horizons notes that consumer spend fell in 2009 and 2010 and last year was worse, with signs that the market fell in both nominal and real terms. Horizons estimates that the foodservice sector was down 3-5% in volume for 2011. The average price paid by consumers fell as a result of discounting and consumers selecting cheaper menu options and foregoing starters, desserts or side dishes.
“However, the UK’s foodservice industry is particularly good at reinventing itself and adapting to change,” said Backman. “The businesses that don’t embrace change are those that will suffer this year, but outlets that adapt to the demands of the new consumer by offering something different, focussing on good quality for a reasonable price, are those that will survive the year ready to focus on growth when consumer demand improves.”
Download the full Review of the Year 2011 report.
]]>In its recently launched Ones to Watch service, Horizons charts the progress of small chains of between five and 25 units which have shown at least 20% growth over the past three years combined. Ones to Watch details the rate of growth of these high street restaurant, quick service and pub restaurant brands and identifies the sectors in which they operate. It also includes Bubbling Under brands which fall below these criteria, but which show potential as trendsetters. The Ones to Watch service is designed to assist food and equipment suppliers in tailoring new product development in line with current demand, as well as to provide foodservice operators with detailed information on market activity and eating out trends.
“Following the progress of these fledgling brands gives us a snapshot of the way eating out is changing in the UK and highlights the high street brands of the future,” said Horizons’ director of services Paul Backman. The first Ones to Watch analysis identifies a clear growth in Mexican and Japanese cuisine-to-go, meeting consumers’ demand for something healthy and different. “While advantageous rent agreements will be an incentive for operators to expand, adding units in a difficult climate demonstrates confidence in their food offer and profitability. The size criteria for Ones to Watch means that these brands now have an outlet base significantly large enough to suggest that various launch and initial growth phase challenges have been overcome and that the offer has customer appeal significant enough to suggest long-term survival and growth,” added Backman.
Adding the most outlets to its portfolio since 2008 is gourmet burger brand Byron, which in 2007 had just one outlet rising to 19 by the end of 2011. Currently all are in London but brand owner Gondola is likely to expand outside the capital in its stated quest to create a nation of ‘proper’ hamburger lovers. Average spend at Byron is £16.
The growth of Mexican foodservice brands suggests that the cuisine is finally finding a mass audience in the UK. Tex-Mex specialist Chimichanga has added seven restaurants to its portfolio since 2008, while Tortilla Mexican Grill has opened a further two outlets since 2008 giving it six restaurants in the capital. Burrito specialist Barburrito now has six units in the North West, Yorkshire and Humberside and bubbling under is Mexican burrito outlet Chilango, which has grown from one outlet in 2008 to four in 2011, albeit with a recent closure.Japanese chains – both restaurant and quick service – are also on the march, reflecting consumers’ growing preoccupation with eating healthily, particularly at lunchtime. Sushi and bento specialist Wasabi, for example, now has 23 units in London – up from 11 in 2008, while Feng Sushi and Hi Sushi now have seven outlets each.
Delivery and retail chain Itsu, which sells Japanese-style food boxes as well as hot dishes, has now gone beyond the remit of Horizons’ Ones to Watch with 35 stores in London as well as two flagship restaurants.
Meanwhile healthy food-to-go deli and café Bill’s Produce now has five outlets in London and the South East, up from two in 2008, healthy fast food chain Pod is up from seven to 12 units, Chop’d has six and Food To Go has five.
“We are seeing a growth in on-the-go concepts that offer consumers an alternative to a lunchtime sandwich, particularly those selling freshly prepared, quality food with an emphasis on healthy eating. Japanese sushi takeaways are a good example as are the growth of outlets specialising in wraps – such as Wrapid, which now has 16 outlets, and Wrap it Up, which has six. Bagel stores are another growth area, with Bagel Nash now having 11 units in the North of England and Ixxy’s Bagels having five,” said Paul Backman.
Frozen yogurt has also staged a come-back, with self-serve specialist Yoomoo operating 10 stores across the UK, up from four in 2008, international brand Snog with six units in London and Yog, which sells probiotic frozen yogurts, running six outlets and a take-home product available through Waitrose.
One of the latest Bubbling Under offers are the Brazilian all-you-can-east churrascaria steakhouses – a new wave lead by brands such as Rodizio Rico and Tropeiro with four outlets each.
]]>Backman told the audience of industry executives that the outlook for foodservice was at best one of limited growth, but more realistically one of no growth for the foreseeable future. “The foodservice market is still in the doldrums, foodservice share of food spend has dipped below 30% and although consumers are spending more money when they eat out they have cut down on the frequency of eating out occasions. This situation is likely to continue well into 2012 and beyond as the economic outlook is unlikely to improve, although I am confident this will start to grow in the longer term,” he said. “Sales of food and beverage for out of home consumption have shown a rise since 2003 but that rise has now reached a plateau and if you take into account the impact of inflation, this represents a decline. The value of sales in the UK’s foodservice sector is currently £42bn – a figure that has remained the same in real terms since 2008.” Backman said that the first half of 2011 had shown some sales growth with a total value of £20.7 bn, up from £19.9 bn in 2010, but this was largely accountable by the rise in inflation and the VAT hike and comparison with a snow-stricken January the previous year.
Economist Philip Shaw of Investec painted a slightly more upbeat picture of the economy as a whole and the fact it had shown 2.5% growth over the past year, employment was rising and corporate profits were up. “This was a nasty recession as it was triggered by a banking collapse and therefore the recovery will tend to be more fragile,” he said. “I don’t think there is going to be a double dip recession in the UK, but more likely will be a period of slow growth over the next year or so after which the recovery will then gain more momentum.”
Backman identified the key issues that are creating a massive margin squeeze for foodservice operators – that selling price to the consumer were dropping due to the prevalence of special offers and meal deals, and the fact that the cost of food was continuing to rise. “The economy is causing patterns of divergence with a split between the trading results of chains and the independents. This is happening most notably in the pub sector and the restaurant sector,” he said. “What we are also seeing is operators concentrating on doing what they do well and so some are pulling away from things they didn’t do that well. This is creating gaps in the market which have opened up opportunities for smaller, more entrepreneurial companies that are better placed to grab those opportunities.” Backman said that QSR (quick service restaurant) chains had converged on a price point concentrating at the lower end, which had created an opportunity for operators to offer more upmarket QSR concepts, prompting the emergence of a fast casual sector within QSR with healthy, Mexican and Japanese themes doing particularly well. This emerging sector, with average spend of £5-10, saw sales worth £6.8bn in 2010.
Director of Services Paul Backman outlined some of the new concepts and brands coming into the market. “Most of the new concepts are quick service operations merging contemporary styling and healthy food with a fast, fun and young feel. They are appealing to a new urban, health-conscious, budget-conscious consumer who would rather eat out than cook at home but doesn’t want to spend too much doing so,” he said. “Health-based convenience concepts such as Bill’s, Chop’d, Pod and Tossed are showing strong growth as are quick service Japanese outlets such as Itsu, Wasabi and Samurai. Mexican is another area of growth with food to go brands such as Chilango, Tortilla Mexican Grill and Barburrito,” added Backman. “Despite the fact that foodservice sales overall have plateaued we are still seeing a high degree of innovation in the sector and this is helping to keep customers interested. Many of the large operators are keeping their offer fresh by changing their menus on a more frequent basis and revamping their interiors. Some are introducing designated areas in their restaurants such as somewhere to sit if you want just a coffee or breakfast, somewhere to meet friends or hold a meeting – it’s all about tailoring your offer to meet whatever your customer needs at whatever time of day,” added Paul Backman.
]]>Consumers have cut back on the number of times they dine out, but despite the on-going economic gloom the British still love eating out and do so at least once every couple of weeks.
In Horizons' latest QuickBite survey on eating out habits 70% of consumers say they had eaten out* at least once in the previous two weeks with 48% doing so at least twice. Some 32% of respondents considered it more convenient to eat out and 25% said they would rather not prepare food at home.
Over a quarter (28%) of consumers who have eaten out in the last two weeks say they did so to be sociable, 23% did so for a special occasion and 17% because it represented good value for money.
The survey quizzed over 1,400 people about their eating out habits in the last two weeks. The results reveal that while consumers still dine out regularly, there has been a 26% year-on-year decline in the number of times people eat out. On average consumers now eat out just once a week compared with last year** when they were eating out 1.4 times a week (June 2010).
"The results of the survey demonstrate that while consumers may have cut back on their eating out spend, it is still a very strong habit for reasons of convenience, sociability and value for money. The fact diners are still eating out at least once a week demonstrates that eating out is entrenched in our way of life and is no longer necessarily seen as a treat," commented Emma Read, director of marketing and business development at Horizons.
While 70% of people eat out at least once every two weeks, 28% do so more than twice and 11% ate out three times in the previous two weeks. Some 2% of respondents admit to eating out six times in the past two weeks.
Nor is the choice of dining venue dependent on clever marketing or money-off vouchers. A third (31%) of consumers said they chose a venue out of habit and 22% said their choice was spontaneous rather than planned.
Recommendation was the main factor in choosing a venue for 14% of consumers, while 11% were influenced by vouchers or special offers.
"This is an important finding for those operators currently caught in a price war of money-off vouchers and special offers. While 11% of respondents to our survey were influenced by offers, loyalty to a particular venue and recommendations seem more important in their choice of venue," added Read.
Reflecting a rise in food prices the QuickBite survey found that consumer spending on eating out had risen 9% year-on-year** with an average meal in the last two weeks now costing £12.69 (including drinks) up from £11.53 in last year's QuickBite survey. Men were more likely to spend more than women at £13.77 per head compared to £11.70 although 18% of consumers spend a fiver or less on a meal out. At the other end of the scale 8% of consumers spend up to £25 when they eat out.
Pub restaurants proved to be the most popular places to eat with almost a fifth of respondents choosing to dine out in pubs. Takeaways and home delivery were the second most popular choices, with quick service restaurants and Indian and Chinese restaurants coming equal third.
The younger generation eats out most often, with 82% of 18-24 year olds eating out at least once in the previous two weeks, spending an average of £12.67. However, it is the 25-34 year old age group that spends the most per head at £13.35 with 74% of this age group eating out at least once in the previous two weeks.
*Eating out is defined as food prepared away from home, including fast food, takeaways, food eaten in restaurants, hotels and meals in a work canteen; but excluding crisps and confectionery, and meals eaten in other people's homes.
**QuickBite survey 2010
Further information on QuickBite
]]>
Follow him here.