After a year of double-digit decline in 2020, full-service restaurants continued to be on a decreasing trajectory in 2021, although with a slower fall in sales. Traditional restaurants that South Korean consumers mainly visit for group dining, such as Korean BBQ or seafood-based restaurants, were hit the hardest in 2021, as eating-in in big groups was restricted due to continued social distancing measures.
North American full-service restaurants was losing its competitiveness prior to the pandemic, and saw a declines in current value terms amidst rapidly changing foodservice trends. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 outbreak further affected the category, seeing the strongest decline within full-service restaurants in 2020, as customers value the dine-in experience as well as the food in such outlets.
During the pandemic, major players that enjoy high awareness amongst consumers increasingly launched meal kits in order to respond to consumers’ changing demands and maintain their profits at a challenging time for dine-in. Although such a movement had already been observed prior to the emergence of the pandemic, the pandemic stimulated a foray by consumer foodservice players into the direct-to-consumer model, rather than selling their products through other retail formats.
Full-service restaurants is expected to rebound to dynamic double-digit current value growth in 2022 and 2023, with strong but slowing growth set to continue over the rest of the forecast period, as lifestyles return to normal, with more time spent outside the home, and the number of outlets also starts to recover. While vaccination rates are now high, recovery to the pre-pandemic level of sales is expected to take a while over the post-pandemic period, due to the uncertainty coming from the continued virus mutations and consequent fluctuating social distancing measures.
Nolboo introduced a ghost kitchen concept, called Nolboo Kitchen, in 2018. However, it only took off and became more widespread during the prolonged pandemic period, along with the drastic transition to food delivery apps.
South Korea’s home meal replacement (HMR) market – classified as ready meals in Euromonitor International’s classification – grew rapidly during the pandemic, as more South Koreans started eating all three meals at home due to the increased time spent at home. In order to meet the surging demand and lead the market, food companies and retailers in the country focused on releasing various collaborative products with famous chefs and restaurants and big-name restaurant chains to differentiate their offerings and better appeal to customers.
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Full-Service Restaurants
FSR (full-service restaurants) encompasses all sit-down establishments where the focus is on food rather than on drink. FSR is characterized by table service and a relatively higher quality of food compared to quick-service units. Menus offer multiple selections and may include breakfast, lunch and dinner. Preparation of food products is often complex and involves multiple steps. NOTE: restaurants types catalogued in this segment refer to table-service only (outlets with a proper “full table service:” wait staff attending customers and taking orders at the tables). Outlets with “limited table service” are excluded from FSR. For example: outlets where customers order their food at the counter are excluded (even though the waiter will then bring the food at the table).
See All of Our DefinitionsThis report originates from Passport, our Full-Service Restaurants research and analysis database.
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