There are early signs that consumers are beginning to up their spend on eating out but operators must strike the right balance between quality and value to remain competitive.
M&C Allegra Foodservice’s EatingOut Panel Q3 2015 Report shows that after average spend per head per visit decreased significantly throughout the last year, the trend is beginning to flatten out and some dayparts are seeing increases.
While overall the average spend per head per visit fell by 1% year-on-year to £6.89 it grew by 5.4% in snacking and 0.2% at breakfast.
The most positive performance came in cafes and coffee shops, which grew average spend across every day part – the only channel to do so.
Gareth Nash, head of consumer insight at M&C Allegra Foodservice, said: “Average spend has been a consistent challenge over the past year. We have seen participation and frequency increasing but average spend has been going in the wrong direction across all channels.
“But in the last couple of quarters what we’re starting to see is a stabilisation. In this quarter we have even seen a rise in snacking and a very small rise at breakfast. It does seem as if consumers are feeling more confident.”
Nash warned that consumers remained cautious and are increasingly choosing venues that represent value for money. However he stressed that this did not necessarily equate to low prices.
He said: “People are increasingly seeing premium options as good value for money. We see key drivers of visits to be quality of food and of service and it is the perception of paying a good price for a good experience that often forms people’s opinion on value for money.”
The full report breaks down spend across channel and daypart as well as focussing on brand performance.
M&C Allegra Foodservice’s EatingOut Panel is a monthly tracker of consumer behaviour, perceptions and trends, providing the UK’s most accurate and insightful continuous dataset on eating out trends. The research is based on over 18,000 in-depth online interview per quarter and continuous surveys.
For more information contact Richard Hayman on richard.hayman@mcallegra-fs.com.
