Delivery and takeaway sales see sharp increase in December amid Omicron concerns
The December edition of the Tracker reveals that Britain’s leading restaurant and pub 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 from CGA and Slerp shows 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.
“Deliveries and takeaways have been a lifeline for restaurant and pub groups throughout the pandemic, and December’s sales provided another critical boost as eat-in trade dropped away,” says Karl Chessell, CGA’s business unit director - hospitality operators and food, EMEA.
“While the rate of growth may slow as 2022 goes on and COVID-19 restrictions ease, it is clear that the rapid rise of third party ordering platforms has helped to cement deliveries in consumers’ habits.
“Mastering this market without compromising in-restaurant sales is going to be a major priority for all operators in 2022.”
Eat-in sales of restaurants and pubs were badly affected in December by Covid-19 concerns, with the latest edition of the separate CGA Coffer Business Tracker — which has a different cohort of contributing companies — indicating a 11% drop in sales for leading managed groups compared to December 2019.
