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Eating out becomes a modern
growth phenomenon
Since 1990 we have had a very real culinary
revolution in Britain, meaning that in 2012 we are, as a nation,
eating out more than ever before.
This is for a variety of reasons, many of
which are due to the changing nature of daily life in Britain and
other social factors. These include the changes in family make-up,
more women out at work rather than running the home, the pace of
modern life and the lack of time available for 'family dining', the
growth in ready meals, a the growing lack of cooking knowledge of
successive generations and lastly the availability of a very vibrant
and varied restaurant industry.
A report from the Office for National
Statistics in 2006 trumpeted that "The value of households'
spending on eating out has passed spending on food sector products
eaten at home in 2004, and doubled between 1992 and 2004".
Cultural changes in food consumption, with
people eating out more regularly and enjoying a wider range of
cuisine, continue to have an impact on the UK economy according to
the report. Household spending on fresh and processed food and drink
products was £85.8 billion in 2004,
up 53.4 per cent between 1992 and 2004. Over the same period,
spending on food and drink products consumed outside the home grew by
102.2 per cent, to £87.5 billion in 2004.
Household spending on all food sector products
was £173.3 billion in 2004, up 74.6 per cent between 1992 and
2004. By comparison, spending on catering products consumed outside
the home grew by 102.2 per cent. In 2004, the contribution of the
food sector to whole economy GVA accounted for £80.3 billion,
7.7 per cent of the total. GVA for the food sector grew by 39.5 per
cent between 1995 and 2004 compared with the growth of GVA for the
whole economy of 63.0 per cent over the same period.
By 2005
according to Horizons/Foodservice Intelligence UK had 26,416
restaurants serving 734 million meals at value of £7.61 bn inc
drinks. In 2010
there were 420,034 catering outlets (restaurants, catering, canteens)
with 112,769 enterprises employing 1,415,000 (National Statistics).
By contrast Sheffield Hallum University gave
eating out figures of 2008
£86.7 - 2009
£85.6 showing a 1.3% drop, the first drop for many years, -
50/50 food. Meanwhile spend in European-style restaurants, those with
Italian, Spanish, British and French menus, rose 19%, with the
average price paid rising from £17.20 in 2004 to £20.51 in
2008. Spend in Chinese and Indian restaurants rose 16%, with
consumers paying an average of £12.66 for an ethnic meal.
A Mitchells Butler review recently saw eating
away from home 2010
back up to peak of £42.6 bn after small fall in 2009. Over the
last four decades the proportion of household expenditure spent on
eating out and drinking out has been constant at between 8 and 9%,
however the proportion of eating out has grown from 36% to 60%.
Key findings include:
o On average in 2010 UK consumers spent
£8.54 a week on eating out plus £1.72 on takeaways and
£6.19 on alcohol. (£24.50 household expenditure).
* Household expenditure on food and drink in
2010 was £98.7bn falling 5.20% in real terms 2007-2010.
* Food prices rose 12% in real terms 2007-2010
(3x as much compared with France).
o 7.7 billion informal meals are eaten out a
year in the UK, or 128 meals for every person in the UK
o There are now 250,500 informal eating out
establishments across the UK, of which an estimated 108,400 are
independent - 43% of the total number of outlets
o Eating out now accounts for 22% of what we
spend on food and drink compared to just 14% in 1969
o The informal eating out sector is now a top
ten industry and employs 1.13 million people in the UK
The impact of the recession:
o The value of eating out was expected to be
£40.3billion in 2009 - a fall of 0.5% from 2008. This is the
first time there has been a decline since the 'informal eating out
market' emerged in the 1960s
o 15,000 jobs were lost in the sector 2009
o In 2009, we were eating 1 in 9 meals away
from home, down from 1 in 8 in 2008
o 35% of people ate out less in 2009, 20%
planned to eat out less in 2010
o Growth returned in 2010 with the market
expected to grow again to £47.5 billion by 2014 thanks to rising
trends in affluence, mobility, more youthful older customers and an
Olympics boost in 2012
o By Q3 in 2010 Eating Out was up 1.6% to be
back to the late 2007 level after the 2009 slump.
In general terms, the most popular ethnic
cuisine in mainland Europe is Oriental, which encompasses both
Chinese and South-East Asian foods and accounts for around 70% of the
market on mainland Europe, whereas it accounts for less than 30% in
the UK.
"This is due to the presence of large
Chinese communities in the Republic of Ireland, Spain, the
Netherlands and France," said Walker of Keynote, "the
influence of which has also driven sales of Oriental foods to
non-ethnic customers."
In the UK Chinese and Indian cuisines (27.5%
and 41.7% in value terms) "typically dominate the market",
with Mexican/Tex Mex, Thai as other major players on the up,
although novel cuisines such as Caribbean and Polish are also marking
inroads with "rapid growth".
Competition is cut-throat amongst suppliers
and manufacturers, who "perpetually have to reinvent products
and innovate to maintain customer interest and loyalty. This involves
a constant refreshing of their lines as well as new product
development, brand extensions and advertising campaigns."
After the hiccup of 2009, the Eating Out
market in Britain continues to be on an upward trend with one of the
success areas being in Cooking Sauces which has experienced a growth
of 31% since 2005 reaching £833 million in 2010.
With nearly £2 billion (US$3.1 billion)
in annual sales, the high-growth, high-value UK pizza sector also
offers serious opportunity for operators
STOP PRESS 2011
Estimated at £3.3 billion in 2010, the prepared meals and pies
and pasties market has experienced growth of 11.9% between 2005 and
2010 (Mintel). British dishes account for £355m of
£1bn-a-year ready meals market. Expected to reach £2.7
billion in 2010, the ready meals market has grown by just 7% since
2005. The market contracted in 2008 as a result of consumer cut
backs, but has bounced back strongly since, suggesting that the six
million users switching to more cooking have not been lost for good. |
