Is Takeaway The Future For The Hospitality Industry?

The last two years have been an unrelenting time for all in the UK hospitality industry. With government-enforced lockdowns closing on-site dining venues, reduced revenue streams, and staff shortages HORECA businesses have been forced to adapt at an unprecedented rate to survive in unchartered waters.

Where people have been unable to dine in-person, takeaway has become the ‘go-to’ with 76% of the UK population ordering home delivery on average once a week. Delivery apps such as UberEATS, Just Eat and Deliveroo have offered customers convenience and more control over their orders, whilst restaurants have benefited from reduced operating costs, and real-time analytical data enabling them to adjust and experiment with their menus in the pursuit of profit.

It’s not just traditional full-service restaurants that have been affected. According to GlobalData, dine-in services across the quick-service restaurant industry in the UK (McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, and the like) experienced a sharp contraction of 90.8% in 2020, as a direct result of the government-enforced closures and customers preferring to stay home. In stark contrast, takeaway delivery services grew by 45% during the same period. It’s clear that whilst customer demand hasn’t decreased, it has shifted to a different medium. Even with physical fast-food venues being open – delivery and click-and-collect services are continuing to grow.

The key ‘takeaways’:

• The average spend per person, per year, increased by 42% from £452 in 2019 to £641 in 2021.
• 60% say they’ll order the same amount of takeaway over the next 12 months signalling a permanent shift in consumer attitude.
• 61% will visit the restaurants that they’ve ordered takeaway from, in-person in the near future.
• The takeaway sector will account for 21% of the total restaurant market by 2025.

The below bar chart details the increase in household expenditure on takeaways per year.

SOURCE: Household expenditure on takeaways per year, ©Statista 2021

Kevin Barker, our Duni national account manager believes "home delivery is here to stay and is set to rise over the coming years due to COVID trends, population increases, and a demand for convenience food. It’s even more important to deliver this experience in a sustainable and eye-catching way which is why I am so excited about the launch of our Duniform range in the UK coming early 2022.”

In conclusion, it is evident that the closure of dine-in restaurants during the pandemic drove huge demand and growth towards takeaway, home delivery meal kits, and recipe boxes. 91% of UK restaurants see takeaway revenue as the key opportunity in the next 12 months, with one-in-five expecting their bulk sales to come from the home delivery sector. With lockdown restrictions now eased, it will be interesting to see whether this growth will continue, and if it does, traditional restaurant operators will need to face some crucial decisions on the future and profitability of their business.