New Hospitality at Home Tracker from CGA suggests the market is set for more growth despite the easing of restrictions in eating and drinking out
Leading restaurant and pub groups recorded a fourfold increase in delivery and takeaway sales in April from pre-COVID-19 levels, CGA’s latest Hospitality at Home Tracker reveals.
Combined delivery and takeaway sales were 345% higher than in April 2019, when the sector was fully open for eating out. Sales grew by 11% from March 2021, despite the reopening of restaurants, pubs and bars for outside service in England from mid-April. Month-on-month growth in takeaway sales was notably higher than in deliveries.
The figures from the Tracker suggest that deliveries, takeaways and at-home meal kits, which have all soared in popularity during the lockdowns of the last 14 months, are likely to remain a major part of consumers’ habits well beyond the full reopening of hospitality.
“Surging delivery and takeaway sales have been a major side-effect of COVID-19 lockdowns and a lifeline for many operators in the first few months of 2021,” says Karl Chessell, CGA’s business unit director – hospitality operators and food, EMEA. “As restaurants, pubs and bars reopen, the way consumers balance ordering in and eating out will be a major dynamic in sales and marketing strategies and a significant factor in profit margins.”
