The food to go market was expected to exceed £20bn this year but as a result of coronavirus, the market has contracted by £6bn. Despite this, the sector is better insulated than other parts of the wider eating out market and as such, is set to gain share this year, as ‘to go’ remains more popular than ‘dine in’.
Following a decade of strong turnover growth, physical expansion in the FTG sector had peaked before coronavirus. The restricted movement enforced by the pandemic has resulted in a forecast of -28% for the full year 2020.
However, FTG did not suffer as deeply as other channels and, as such, a swifter recovery is expected. The Lumina Intelligence Food to Go After Lockdown Report reflects the significant challenges brought about by coronavirus and provides a full revision of forecasted market performance by sub-channel; key operator developments; an update on consumer and shopper trends; as well as key growth opportunities and future outlook for the sector.
Executive summary
Market update
- What is the value of the market in light of coronavirus?
- What is the revised growth forecast for 2020?
- How does that differ by sub-channel?
- What is food to go’s share of the total eating out market?
- What is driving the changes? Competitive landscape
- Who are the top ten players in the FTG market?
- How have they performed?
- Who are the key players by sub-channel?
- How did FTG operators respond to the coronavirus pandemic?
- What NPD has been introduced in 2020?
Consumer insight
- How are consumer trends changing and how has this been impacted by coronavirus?
- Who is the food to go consumer?
- Why do they buy FTG?
- Where is food to go purchased and where is it consumed?
- The food to ‘go home’ opportunity
Growth opportunities
- What are the seven key trends impacting the food to go market?
- How have these trends evolved?
- What are the growth opportunities, post pandemic?
- How can operators and retailers maximise these trends and stay relevant in 2020 and beyond?
Future outlook
- How will the FTG sector evolve in the next three years?
- What are the Lumina Intelligence growth forecasts to 2023?
- How does this vary by sub-channel?
- How will food to go bounce back from the 2020 decline?
- What will be the key factors to shape future market growth?
72,000 online surveys (6,000 per month) through Lumina Intelligence’s Eating Out Panel, FY 2018- 2019.
- Insight from Lumina Intelligence’s Channel Pulse. 1,000 weekly interviews with consumers engage with the UK food and drink market. Surveys conducted between 23 March – 6 September 2020.
- Extracts from the Lumina Intelligence Operator Data Index. A comprehensive database of over 700 UK hospitality operators.
- Research from the Lumina Intelligence UK Recovery Report (May 2020)