Wholesale experts TWC Group, in partnership with food-to-go and out-of-home tracking programme MealTrak, reports the latest food-to-go market performance to 12 w/e 31 October 2022.
OCCASIONS:
Latest MealTrak results show the number of out-of-home eating occasions were +15% higher than the comparable period in 2021 on a 52 week/MAT basis.
In the latest 12 weeks, the number of out-of-home eating occasions were +4% higher than in 2021.
In the last 12 weeks, the ‘eating out’ channel (comprising pubs, restaurants and hotels) outperformed total food-to-go at +8% vs the previous year, however the growth rate continues to slow. Growth in ‘eating out’ is driven by pubs +37%, while restaurants are in decline (-10%).
Sandwich shops (-5%), fast food & takeaway (-10%), high street (-22%) and transportation (-2%) are all in decline meanwhile coffee shops & cafes have returned to modest growth (+2%) in the latest 12 weeks.
The multiples, with their more affordable food-to-go offer, remain the clear winners, with steady and significant growth (+24% in the latest 12 weeks).
Other retail channels – convenience stores (+7%), discounters (+6%) and forecourts (+9%) are also all outperforming the total market.
VALUE:
Value sales are up +30% on a 52 week/MAT basis and +12% on a 12-week ending basis versus 2021. As you’d expect in an inflationary market, ‘value’ growth remains significantly ahead of ‘occasions’ growth.
Commenting on the results, Tom Fender, Development Director at TWC, said:
“For the 12-week ending period to 31 October 2022, total food-to-go and out-of-home occasions increased +4%, a slight increase vs. the last 12 w/e data release. Behind this headline figure, there are several interesting nuances. Firstly, ‘eating out’ continues to outperform ‘food-to-go’, this is driven by pubs, which appear to be resonating well with consumers as an affordable option for evening meals.”
“Meanwhile, within food-to-go, retail outlets continue to outperform foodservice FTG specialists, with the multiples continuing their outperformance of the market at +24% in the latest 12 weeks. This aligns with consumers’ continued search for value, with the need for ‘something not too expensive’ continuing to rise strongly. We are also seeing consumers sticking with what they know – ‘regular favourite’ (+17%) significantly outperforms ‘something a bit different’ (-22%).”
“For the first time in quite some time, coffee shops have returned to a positive trend (+2%). Following the pandemic there was an inevitable decline in this sector as workers embraced hybrid work patterns. However, with energy cost rises, it is possible that some work-from-home days are being replaced by working from venues such as coffee shops.”
Mealtrak is a vast data source so if you would like to know more of the detail behind these headlines, please contact Tom Fender at TWC (Tom@twcgroup.net) for more information.