Storm Arwen, Black Friday deals and rising Covid cases helped fuel a rise in foodservice deliveries in November, new research has found.
Delivery occasions increased by two percentage points for the 12 weeks ending 28 November 2021, according to the latest update to Lumina Intelligence’s newly updated UK Foodservice Delivery Market Report 2021.
The data showed that delivery’s share of total eating out occasions peaked at 19%, having dropped as low as 15% during October.
The increase was likely due to bad weather causing people to stay inside as well as coronavirus concerns, the insights provider claimed.
Meanwhile, average spend for foodservice deliveries stood at £13.29 - +46% higher than the total average of £9.11.
The report also revealed that older consumers aged 45-65+ had grown share of delivery occasions by four percentage points, but younger customers were driving the sector’s growth with one in two aged between 18-34.
There was also a one percentage point increase in the number of consumers buying deliveries in order to spend time with family – a pattern that was likely to increase over the Christmas and New Year period, exacerbated by government advice surrounding the Omicron variant, the report stated.
“With the weather turning colder, we expect to see an uptick in delivery over the winter months,” Blonnie Whist, Lumina Intelligence insight director, said.
“However, with the volume of Covid cases rising rapidly and the potential for tougher restrictions, delivery could become critical to operators once again over the coming weeks and months. Consumers are likely to become more selective on how they spend their free time, opting to stay in with friends rather than go to busy pubs or restaurants in order to limit risks and ensure festive plans don’t have to change last minute due to isolation.”
The report also found that McDonald’s continued to dominate the foodservice delivery occasions accounting for 19% of the total over the 12-week period, followed by independent local fast-food outlets (14%) and Domino’s (9%).
Five Guys appeared in the leading brands by share of occasions for the first time (1%), following a greater focus on this area as a result of strong delivery sales during the pandemic.
To find out more about the report, click here.
