Food-to-go & eating out news

In our latest food-to-go customer report on ShopperVista, we explored app usage in food-to-go. Around the same time we published this report, Pret talked about their 2021 and H1 2022 sales, revealing that digital sales accounted for 37% of 2021 sales.   Here we look at some of our key findings and how this relates to Pret’s digital growth. Time-pressed customers are driving app usage ...

On 28 th June, we attended the UK QSR Media Conference and Awards in London. IGD kicked off the day with insight into the economic outlook for the industry and an overview of our five eating out trends. Our chief economist James Walton focused on the current and future issues facing the industry, such as rising costs and labour shortages. Source: QSR Media On a more optimistic note,...

The food-to-go market will be worth £18.9bn at the end of 2022, an increase of 3% on 2019 levels according to our new UK food-to-go market 2022-2027 report. The return to growth has happened around six months earlier than previously anticipated, although the gains made during 2021/22 will be dampened by rising inflation and reduced discretionary spend from the cost-of-living crisis in 2023/24. ...

This year, a number of retailer meal deals have seen a change in their pricing strategy, and Amazon Fresh is the latest to follow suit. Earlier on in the year, Tesco increased their meal deal price from £3 to £3.50 , except for Clubcard members. This move would have pushed food-to-go customers without a Clubcard to the loyalty scheme, helping Tesco to collect more data on meal deal shopping t...

The long-awaited addition to London’s Market Hall group has opened in the heart of London’s thriving business district – Canary Wharf. Originally announced in May 2019, the opening was delayed due to the pandemic. Having opened three food halls pre-pandemic, specifically Fulham (since closed), Victoria and Oxford Street, the company has been eager to expand. Last week we visited the si...

As The Co-op announces new initiatives for its food-to-go ranges and how it aims to tackle food waste, we round up news from the retailer. The Co-op extends food-to-go range to Nisa retailers The Co-op has made its 2022 summer range of food-to-go products available to Nisa retailers directly from its central distribution. The range is made up of a selection of sandwiches, salads, wraps, sub...

I went to New York City to see how retail is evolving, taking in convenient food-to-go solutions and the rapid roll out of new technologies and digital solutions. Key learnings from my visits in New York City: Food-to-go specialists are focusing on delivering the most convenient experience through wider range of products, orders via app and super easy collection in stores Getting the ...

After two disrupted years, rather than a return to normality, the eating out sector is facing a new set of challenges.  The issues outlined in our UK Eating Out Market Forecasts 2022 , such as rising costs, staff shortages and financially-stretched consumers, are shared by many countries around the world.   These significant headwinds may slow recovery, however we anticipate a period of inten...

Last week IGD hosted its first webinar for the eating out market: “ Eating out: a new world of challenges and opportunities ”.  Over 150 retailers, operators, manufacturers, wholesalers and opinion leaders joined the session to find out where the opportunities for growth could be found amid the challenges facing the market. Missed the webinar? View the recording and download the slides on our ...

According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, Couche-Tard and EG Group could potentially merge, with the latter valued at around US$16bn. Where do the two businesses overlap? The convenience market in the U.S is highly fragmented, with approx. 150,000 stores trading. Couche-Tard is the second largest operator with about 7,150 sites, while EG has approx. 1,700 stores. The merger could he...