Food-to-go remains buoyant despite restaurants reopening, says analyst

The analyst’s latest figures in its UK Food To Go market report for 2021 show more than a quarter of foodservice purchases (28%) made in the latest quarter were consumed on the go.

Katherine Prowse, senior insight manager at Lumina Intelligence said: “Despite restrictions easing and consumers returning to their favourite dine-in restaurants, pubs and cafés, food-to-go still accounts for more than one in four out-of-home occasions.

“With the continuation of hybrid working and reduced city-centre footfall, this highlights the resilience of the channel and the important role it continues to play in recovery.

“Proximity, previous experiences and value for money are the key reasons driving consumers to choose a particular food-to-go outlet. Ease of ordering across the food-to-go channel is the area that satisfies consumers the most.”

The places customers are most likely to eat their food include sitting down somewhere such as a park (8%), on a train or bus (8%), at work (6%) or just while walking around (7%).