Delivery and takeaway sales treble in August

Delivery and takeaway sales at managed restaurants and pub groups were close to treble their pre-pandemic levels in August, according to the latest CGA & Slerp Hospitality at Home Tracker.

Sales were 176% higher than in August 2019 and up 70% on the same month last year. The report found that while year-on-year growth has slowed since the first quarter of 2021, when the nation was in lockdown, deliveries and takeaways still accounted for just over a quarter (27%) of manged operators’ total sales in August.

Delivery sales grew to reach more than five times the size of takeaways between 2020 and 2021, with evidence of the growing importance of drinks in the offer – they made up 10% of all order sales in August.

Figures from the separate Coffer CGA Business Tracker have also illustrated the strong sales seen in August, with managed restaurants, pubs and bars seeing sales up 5% on the comparable period in 2019.

“Deliveries and takeaways were a big factor in groups’ robust trading in August, and while their share of sales has dropped since the return of eating out, it’s clear they remain a powerful part of the sales mix,” said Karl Chessell, CGA’s business unit director - hospitality operators and food, EMEA.

Chessell added that lingering safety concerns about going out, and large numbers of people staying close to home for holidays will both have boosted the market in the short term, but that the convenience and quality of deliveries people experienced during the pandemic has helped to build a substantial new market that is here to stay.

“Businesses have seen the potential of embracing a multi-channel strategy - online and on premise together - which is directly impacting how they’re thinking about growing their businesses moving forward,” added JP Then, founder of Slerp.

“It’s affecting everything from retail footprints and site layouts to who they need to hire in head office to manage their digital channels. The most progressive businesses are seeing digital as a core part of their growth strategy, not just incremental revenue for right now.