New research suggests that visit frequency for food-to-go (FTG) is growing faster than the total eating out market.
The insight comes from MCA’s Quarterly FTG Tracker that is underpinned by their Eating Out Panel, which comprises 6,000 consumer interviews every month.
The 50+ page report indicates that FTG visit frequency has performed ahead of the total Eating Out market, growing 3.5% year-on-year vs a decline of 0.6%. Visit frequency for FTG has risen across all day-parts, with breakfast (+9.2%) and dinner (+16.3%) the big performers.
Alongside outperforming the total eating out market on visit frequency, average spend is also seeing faster growth. Average spend on FTG in the y/e March 2019 is up 12.2% vs y/e March 2018. In comparison, average spend across the total eating out market in the same period has risen by just 2.4%.
Grocery retail’s share of the FTG market has remained static across the breakfast, lunch and dinner day-parts, however, year-on-year there has been a 3pp decline in their share at the snack day-part. Despite this, grocery retail continues to have the largest share of the lunch and snack day-parts. However, fierce competition from coffee shops/cafes and sandwich retailers at the snack day-part is putting pressure on retailers.
Katie Prowse, Insight Manager at MCA Insight said: “FTG meal visits now account for over a third of all out of home meal visits and grocery retail remains in a fantastic position to capitalise on this growth. However, strong competition from the wider eating out market continues to mount pressure on retailers to find a solution that looks beyond the traditional FTG offering.
“Food quality/taste, staff friendliness and cleanliness are the three main consumer-led factors that have grown in importance. Our data shows that some supermarkets and c-stores recognise this, with satisfaction ratings for product-led KPIs increasing. Fast service has seen a decline in importance of 1.9pp year-on-year. Focusing on the right offer, that differentiates from competitors and is high quality should be a key focus for retailers, rather than the quickest option.”
