Cafés/Bars in Western Europe

Delivery

This report comes in PPT.

Key findings

COVID-19 restrictions still in place in 2021

The pandemic continued to impact consumer foodservice in 2021, particularly in the first half of the year, with further lockdowns and restrictions, including the closure of consumer foodservice establishments. While home delivery/takeaway was generally possible for foodservice outlets during such periods, cafés/bars is a channel that does not lend itself so well to this.

Digitalisation on the rise

The use of digital channels is a growing trend for both cafés/bars and consumers. This is especially the case in relation to digital payments, which were often preferred by new, but also existing, users. This trend was accelerated by the pandemic, as more foodservice players turned to e-commerce and omnichannel strategies. And there is still room for further growth of digital payment methods.

Increase in healthier options

Consumer foodservice players in Italy have been responding to the healthy eating trend by reshaping their menus and offerings accordingly. Organic, natural, high-protein, vegetarian, vegan and other health-focused options have been appearing on more and more menus across foodservice types.

Positive growth expected over 2021-2026

A full recovery for cafés/bars could take some time, with sales in real value terms currently not expected to reach pre-pandemic levels before the end of the forecast period, despite positive growth being predicted for every year. This will be, in part, due to inbound tourism in the region taking some time to fully recover, but also the fact that lockdowns forced drinking into people’s homes, where it might stay for some consumers, even post-pandemic, particularly given it is normally cheaper than drinking in a foodservice establishment.