Britain’s restaurant and pub groups more than doubled their delivery and takeaway sales from pre-pandemic levels in September, the latest edition of the CGA & Slerp Hospitality at Home Tracker shows.
Combined sales were 130% higher than in September 2019, when businesses were trading as normal; and 35% higher than in September 2020, when they were operating under COVID restrictions. Deliveries and takeaways were worth 29% of the total sales of all businesses contributing data to the Tracker.
September’s growth in delivery sales was more than five times higher than takeaways, reflecting the popularity of third party delivery platforms. Drinks accounted for just under 10% of all sales.
CGA data suggests delivery and takeaway sales are not compromising consumers’ spending on eating and drinking out. The September edition of the separate CGA Coffer Business Tracker, with a different cohort of contributing companies, indicates that managed restaurants, pubs and bars grew their sales by 8% on September 2019.
“Delivery and takeaway sales have dipped from the heights of lockdown, but September’s figures show they will stay a crucial part of restaurant and pub operations,” says Karl Chessell, CGA’s business unit director – hospitality operators and food, EMEA. “It’s particularly pleasing to see that at-home sales seem to be complementing rather than cannibalising eat-out spending, even as restaurants and pubs settle back towards normality. While the post-COVID balance of the two sectors won’t be clear for a while yet, there’s no reason why businesses can’t thrive in both in the future.”
Slerp founder JP Then says: “The businesses that are thriving with off-premise sales are keeping things interesting for their customers. They are offering unique menu items that are exclusive through their own online channels, which are often only available for a limited time. Slerp partners are having particular success driving up the basket size by creating bundles – and most importantly, the customers are loving it. As we move into the last quarter of the year, the festive online offering can be a significant revenue contributor whilst the landscape remains uncertain.”
