Pubs food sales are declining nearly a year after the introduction of the smoking ban, with new research showing that 9% of regular pub users expect to eat out less.
The Quickbite study from consultant's FMCG’s found that people are eating out less often in pubs, with a significant drop amongst the 25 to 34-year old age group.
The report on meals bought out of home, which surveyed 1,000 pub goers, showed that Chinese food had overtaken pub food as the nation’s most popular dining out option.
The annual value of Chinese meals, including takeaway and restaurants, was worth £4.8bn, compare to annual expenditure on pub meals of £4.7bn.
David Humphreys, director of consultancy FMCG, said: “This development is not so much the result of a sudden surge in the popularity of Chinese food as the consistent decline in pub food over the past fifteen months, the result of the combined effects of the smoking ban on pub usage and steeply rising living costs among pubs' core meal consumers.”
A swing in the gender bias of pub goers had also become apparent over the last 15 months, with male drinkers having fallen from 57% to 52%, while females increased from 43% to 47%.
Humphreys said: “The market has turned in the last 15 months and has become categorized by girls nights out, while males stay at home to drink and smoke.”
The study also found that the value eating out and premium casual dining segments had grown by 3% and 2.4%, respectively, while mainstream casual dining had fallen by 0.4% in the last year.
Humphreys said: “Fewer people are eating out and they are dining out less, but when they do they are spending more.
The majority of those questioned also disagreed that the eating out sector was more resilient due to it having become an important part of people’s lifestyles.
