December saw spike in restaurant takeaways and deliveries

Britain’s leading restaurant and pub groups recorded a considerable rise in delivery and takeaway sales as the omicron variant influenced some consumers' decisions to go out in the run-up to Christmas, according to the CGA & Slerp Hospitality at Home Tracker.
 
The Tracker reveals that groups recorded a 127% increase in sales by value from the levels of December 2019. It is a sharp rise on the 2021-on-2019 comparison of 97% in November, reflecting consumers’ decisions to stay at home and restrictions in the hospitality sector as the omicron variant spread.
 
The Tracker shows that December’s delivery sales were 266% higher than in 2019 — more than five times the growth of 47% in takeaways. It continues consumers’ steady move away from picking up food to having it brought to their door, and delivery volumes now outstrip takeaways and click and collect orders by some distance.
 
By contrast, the eat-in sales of restaurants and pubs were badly affected in December by Covid-19 concerns. The latest edition of the separate CGA Coffer Business Tracker — which has a different cohort of contributing companies — indicates a 11% drop in sales for leading managed groups compared to December 2019.

Partners on the Tracker are: Azzurri Group, Big Table Group, BrewDog, Burger King UK, Byron, Cote Restaurants, Dishoom, Gaucho Grill, Giggling Squid, Honest Burgers, Nando’s Restaurants, PizzaExpress, Pizza Hut UK, Prezzo, Rosa’s Thai, TGI Fridays UK, The Restaurant Group, Tortilla, Wagamama and YO! Sushi.

“Consumers are now accustomed to the ease and convenience of delivery, and it’s very unlikely that delivery demand will drop. As we head towards key calendar dates such as Lunar New Year, Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day, there is a huge opportunity for operators to capitalise on this demand," says Leanne Patterson, head of marketing at Slerp. "By creating and marketing their seasonal offerings, savvy operators can use delivery, particularly pre-orders, to fuel sales growth, alongside their on premise offering.”

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