Usage of different types of fast food venues and restaurants has altered little in the last year. Eating out frequency has also largely held steady, with a slight increase in the percentage of restaurant users who eat out once a week. In part, this is likely to reflect the ongoing trend towards casual dining concepts in the market with nearly a third of diners eating out as a regular treat.
Nearly a fifth of diners (18%) state that they eat out to take advantage of a promotional deal. Although these continue to effectively drive footfall, operators will need to look to other methods of creating standout if they are to repair brand loyalty, particularly in sectors such as pizza/pasta restaurants.
Meanwhile, whilst health is a key issue on the government agenda, there is little universal demand for healthy eating concepts from UK consumers in the foodservice arena. For example, nearly four in 10 diners state that they rarely think about healthy eating concerns when eating out. By comparison, only 15% state that they prefer venues that display calorie counts on menus.
However, health cues resonate more strongly with younger diners and amongst particular areas of the market such as the lunch sector. Interest in healthy eating has also provided a platform for growth for some emerging ethnic chains, which aim to appeal to those looking for healthy fast food, for instance. Overall, operators risk little in exploring this area given that less than one in 10 diners state that they avoid venues that label calories on menus.
Definition
The scope of this report is the eating out market within the UK (excluding commercial catering, eg canteens, contract catering). This consists of various market segments, which are defined as:
Fast food – this essentially refers to outlets that serve food prepared and served quickly to order with a limited menu. The main fast food outlets include:
burger bars, eg McDonald’s and Burger King
pizza restaurants, takeaway and home delivery outlets, eg Pizza Hut, PizzaExpress and Domino’s Pizza
pasta chains, eg Bella Italia
chicken chains, eg KFC
fish and chip shops
other types of fast food such as jacket potatoes, kebabs.
Pub catering – includes food served in pubs and in pub restaurant chains such as Brewers Fayre and Harvester.
In-store restaurants – these outlets comprise a wide range of foodservice venues located within retail outlets including among others supermarkets and department stores.
Roadside catering – these outlets operate at MSAs (motorway service areas) and on major roads, with the leading operators being the Compass Moto brand and Little Chef.
Hotel catering – comprising hotel restaurants, bars and room service.
Other – other formats included within the scope of this report are cafés, coffee shops etc.
Some sectors such as roadside and in-store catering have been identified separately but often include elements of overlap with other sectors such as fast food and chain restaurants. However, please note that the market sizes shown exclude overlapping outlets. For instance, burger bars found in MSAs have been excluded from the total roadside market figures and have been included in the burger bar segment instead.
Hotel catering includes sales of beverages. As far as possible, sales of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages have been excluded from all other sectors and sub-sectors, apart from coffee shops. Takeaway foodservice outlets are included as part of the market, but sales of food through retail outlets such as supermarkets are excluded (apart from in-store catering venues).
Value figures throughout this report are at retail selling prices (rsp) unless stated otherwise. Market sizes at constant 2014 prices are devised using Mintel’s catering deflator. Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen’s Printer for Scotland.
