Consumer Foodservice in Western Europe

May 2024

After a strong recovery in 2021 and 2022 from the pandemic-induced steep decline seen in 2020, growth in the Western European consumer foodservice industry slowed in 2023, with both businesses and consumers being impacted by the persistently high inflation. Western Europe is expected to continue seeing positive, if gradually slowing, growth in the coming years, with delivery, particularly via online ordering, continuing to gain share over the forecast period.

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Delivery

This report comes in PPT.

Key findings

Staff shortages remain a problem

Consumer foodservice has been experiencing staff shortages in the post-pandemic period. Many employees lost their jobs or had significantly reduced hours due to COVID-19 restrictions, leading a number of them to seek employment in other industries. With many not returning to the foodservice industry since then, this has resulted in a shortage of qualified staff in a number of countries.

Delivery expected to continue gaining share

In 2020, the pandemic resulted in eat-in losing a lot of share to takeaway, drive through and, in particular, home delivery. The ongoing popularisation of home delivery, being given added impetus by online ordering, will see it continue gaining share in consumer foodservice in the coming years, with delivery expected to move ahead of takeaway in terms of value sales by the end of the forecast period.

Mini-chains to cash in on prevailing trends

Italy has been seeing a proliferation of mini-chains looking to capitalise on the latest trends, such as bubble tea or poke. Such mini-chains look to offer artisanal quality that is adapted to a more casual dining format, making it accessible to a wide range of consumer segments.

Industry expected to continue digitalising

Consumer foodservice operators will continue to focus on digitalising their businesses. Along with using QR codes to access menus, operators are also channelling their efforts into developing mobile apps. With smartphones ubiquitous in most countries, digitalisation is expected to help drive growth in the delivery/takeaway share.

Scope
Key findings
Western Europe has the highest regional sales in self-service cafeterias and cafés/bars
Western Europe is third in terms of both value sales and average per capita spend
Positive but slowing growth expected in the coming years
Chains and limited-service restaurants the best performers over 2018-2023
Strong growth for self-service cafeterias in Spain in 2023
Pandemic provides a major boost to sales via delivery
LSR manages to grow as FSR and cafés/bars rack up massive losses
Recovery from the pandemic slows in 2023 due to persistently high inflation
Staff shortages a problem post-pandemic in a number of countries
Consumer foodservice remains a fragmented competitive landscape
Pandemic helped cement the leading position of McDonald’s in Western Europe
UK the largest market for most of the Western European top 10 players
No changes in the top 10 brand rankings
Positive value sales growth expected throughout the forecast period
Ghost kitchens an emerging trend in the Spanish market
Digitalisation and home delivery/takeaway expected to continue developing
Austria: Market Context
Austria: Competitive and Retail Landscape
Belgium: Market Context
Belgium: Competitive and Retail Landscape
Denmark: Market Context
Denmark: Competitive and Retail Landscape
Finland: Market Context
Finland: Competitive and Retail Landscape
France: Market Context
France: Competitive and Retail Landscape
Germany: Market Context
Germany: Competitive and Retail Landscape
Greece: Market Context
Greece: Competitive and Retail Landscape
Ireland: Market Context
Ireland: Competitive and Retail Landscape
Italy: Market Context
Italy: Competitive and Retail Landscape
Netherlands: Market Context
Netherlands: Competitive and Retail Landscape
Norway: Market Context
Norway: Competitive and Retail Landscape
Portugal: Market Context
Portugal: Competitive and Retail Landscape
Spain: Market Context
Spain: Competitive and Retail Landscape
Sweden: Market Context
Sweden: Competitive and Retail Landscape
Switzerland: Market Context
Switzerland: Competitive and Retail Landscape
Turkey: Market Context
Turkey: Competitive and Retail Landscape
UK: Market Context
UK: Competitive and Retail Landscape

Consumer Foodservice

Consumer foodservice is composed of cafés/bars, full-service restaurants, limited-service restaurants, self-service cafeterias and street stalls/kiosks.

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