Convenience food-to-go sales rise in complex consumer market

By David Harris in Industry News 9th December 2022

Convenience stores food-to-go sales were up 7% in the 12 weeks to 31 October compared with the previous 12 weeks, according to figures just released by MealTrak.

Forecourt food-to-go figures were up slightly more, by 9%, although sales from multiples were the stand-out success, with a 24% increase.

The stiffest competition from eating out venues came from pubs, which were up by 37%, although this was in stark contrast to restaurants, where sales were down by 10%.

Overall, the meal tracker analyst found the number of eating out occasions was 4% up on the comparable period last year.

Tom Fender, development director at TWC, which produces MealTrak, said: “For the 12-week ending period to 31 October 2022, total food-to-go and out-of-home occasions increased 4%, a slight increase versus the last 12-week data release.

“Food-to-go retail outlets continue to outperform foodservice food-to-go specialists, with the multiples continuing their outperformance of the market at 24% in the latest 12 weeks.

“This aligns with consumers’ continued search for value, with the need for ‘something not too expensive’ continuing to rise strongly.

“We are also seeing consumers sticking with what they know – ‘regular favourite’ (up 17%) significantly outperforms ‘something a bit different’ (down 22%).”