Consumer Foodservice in Western Europe

Delivery

This report comes in PPT.

Key findings

Staff shortages a problem post-pandemic

Consumer foodservice has been experiencing staff shortages in the post-pandemic period. Many employees lost their jobs or had significantly reduced hours during the pandemic, leading many to seek employment in other industries. However, they have not since returned to the foodservice industry, resulting in a shortage of qualified staff, particularly in full-service restaurants, which generally look to provide a better quality of service.

Eat-in loses share during the pandemic

The pandemic, with its lockdowns and foodservice eat-in bans, saw this mode’s share fall from around three quarters of sales in 2019 to just over half in 2020. While eat-in has clawed back some share since then, home delivery in particular is expected to make gains over the forecast period, although takeaway will remain more popular, with more than a fifth of overall sales.

Foodservice industry continues to digitalise

Industry players are increasingly using technology to streamline their operations and improve the customer experience. This includes mobile payment options, digital menu boards and apps used for online delivery orders. They are offered in particular by chains, which have the necessary capacities for this. As younger consumers tend to use digital channels for all aspects of their everyday lives, they therefore also want to place foodservice orders through them.

Inflationary environment likely to slow growth in the short term

High inflation is a problem for a wide range of industries, including consumer foodservice. Players are struggling with higher costs, as raising prices is not a great strategy at a time when consumers are experiencing downward pressure on their disposable incomes. In the short term, at least, this scenario is likely to hold back the strength of the continued recovery from the sales decline seen in 2020 when the pandemic first hit the region.