Street food leads growth in eating out market

Street food and mobile operations are leading growth in eating out and outperforming the wider market, MCA research reveals.

The segment, encompassing street food and market operators, continues to outpace other channels in terms of growth, as communal F&B markets continue to attract investment and innovation.

Turnover for the segment is forecast to reach £1.3bn in 2019, growth £92m compared to 2018 (7.6%).

The number of outlets is estimated to be 8,915, with outlet growth rate of 5.5% in 2019, a slight slowdown from the 6.1% growth rate of 2018.

Branded contemporary fast food grew by 6.5% in 2019, branded traditional fast food by 4.8%, and coffee shops also by 4.8%, showing how the market is currently led by lower-ticket segments.

This compared to a sluggish growth in the total eating out market of 1.3%.

The UK eating out market has experienced its slowest value growth in seven years and is forecast to grow behind inflation at c2%, according to the MCA UK Eating Out Market Report 2019.

Annual turnover is expected to be up 2% per year over the next three years, but with price inflation expected to increase by the same level, it leaves market volume growth negligible.

Meanwhile overall outlet growth in the Eating Out market is set for marginal growth of just 0.1% for 2016-2019, down from 0.4% in 2013-2016.