The decisions being made by consumers about when they eat out and how much they spend are being affected by current cost pressures, the latest data from Lumina Intelligence would suggest.
Notably, there was a reduction in the number of 18-34 year-olds eating and drinking out across all day parts in the 12 weeks to 12 June 2022, with young people turning more to QSR and away from restaurants, according to Lumina’s latest Eating and Drinking Out Panel (EDOP) quarterly report.
The cost-of-living crisis is affecting this age group, the most lucrative category for eating and drinking out, said Lumina. But the proportion of 55+ year olds eating out is increasing presenting an opportunity to cater more for the needs of this demographic.
Average spend per visit, across all age groups, has fallen at breakfast and on snacking in 12-week period, down 5% and 7% respectively, with the decline in spend on snacking in particular signifying consumers are reducing spend on less necessary items.
Participation at breakfast was also down (-0.3ppts) compared with the previous quarter, according to the report.
Lunchtime appeared to be the winner of the four occasions tracked, seeing average participation up 1.4ppts over the quarter and increasing its day-part share of total visits by 1ppt, at the expense of dinner, as consumers opt for more accessibly priced occasions.
Overall, average spend increased by just 2% across the overall eating and drinking out market, with dinner seeing the highest increase at +4%. This is despite high levels of inflation, and incorporates the period which included the Jubilee weekend and warmer weather.
To find out more about Lumina Intelligence’s Eating and Drinking Out panel, please click here.
