Delivery and takeaway sales slump continues

Restaurant and pub groups' delivery and takeaway sales continue to plateau after booming during Covid lockdowns, according to the latest CGA & Slerp Hospitality at Home Tracker. 

Combined sales in June 2022 were 23% below the level of June 2021, when venues were subject to trading restictions and some consumers were hesitant about eating out. It is the eighth month of year-on-year decline in a row recorded by the Tracker. 

Nevertheless, sales remain well above pre-covid levels, with growth of 113% in June 2022 from the last pre-pandemic June of 2019. The Tracker's breakdown of sales indicate that delivery sales were 275% higher than three years ago, while takeaway and click-and-collect sales were up by a much more modest 39%. This reflects a steady move away from takeaway pick-ups to the convenience of deliveries to consumers doors via third-party platforms. 

"With trading conditions in restaurants and pubs returning to normal, a slowdown in delivery and takeaway sales was to be expected in the first half of 2022, and it suggests that most of Britain’s consumers have returned to their pre-COVID eating-out habits," says Karl Chessell, business unit director for hospitality operators and food at CGA.

"However, this sector is still more than twice the size it was before the pandemic, and it’s now worth nearly 24 pence in every pound spent in managed pubs and restaurants who contribute to the tracker," he adds. "Balancing eat-in and at-home operations, and achieving growth in both without compromising either, will be a top priority for businesses over the second half of the year."

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