Trends centring around personal finances are seen as some of the most influential for the industry by eating out market leaders, according to Lumina Intelligences 2023 Top of Mind report.
Answering what the most important long-term consumer trends affecting the sector, 49% cited a squeeze on household budgets.
Not far behind, 43% of industry leaders saw value consciousness among consumers as the most important trend.
This echoes Lumina Intelligence’s Eating & Drinking Out Panel consumer psychographics, which saw a +4ppt increase in those that are very value led year-on-year.
On the other hand, ethical consumerism has seen a marked decline this year as consumers prioritise value.
Amongst the eating out and grocery retail market, ethical consumerism saw a marked drop from 22% in 2022, to 10% this year, in response to the same question.
Lumina notes that a number of eating out players are targeting value through range adjustments and rewards programmes, to encourage repeat visit, including Pret A Mangers revamp of its Club Pret Scheme and KFC’s recently launched Rewards Arcade on the KFC app.
Data also revealed that hospitality businesses are putting less emphasis on new initiatives within businesses in 2023, as ongoing financial challenges lead to tighter budgets.
Sustainability was the most common theme being prioritised through initiatives over the next 12 months, but has dropped from 76% to 48% across eating out and grocery.
Diversity in the workplace took second place at 38%, with new processes seeing the largest uptick this year (14%), reflective of the shift towards reviewing efficiencies.
57% of surveyed hospitality businesses commented that the biggest impact of the cost of living crisis was the need to increase the price of items on sale.
Furthermore, 66% of surveyed hospitality business professionals agree or strongly agree that the next 12 months will see an increase in business closures among eating out brands.
