Delivery and takeaway sales still booming despite return of eating out

May’s delivery and takeaway sales at Britain’s leading restaurant and pub groups were 273% higher than in May 2019, CGA’s latest Hospitality at Home Tracker reveals.

The figure was down on 345% in April, following the reopening of hospitality for inside service in the second half of May. However, it indicated that deliveries and takeaways could remain a much more significant element of groups’ operations than they were before Covid-19.

CGA’s Hospitality at Home Tracker showed growth in delivery sales was more than twice as high as takeaways, thanks in large part to the rising popularity of third-party delivery platforms. Combined, they accounted for nearly half (49.7%) of restaurant and pub groups’ sales in May, with eat-in contributing the remainder (50.3%).

“While many consumers seized the chance to eat out again, hospitality’s reopening for inside service isn’t diminishing the appeal of deliveries and takeaways,” said Karl Chessell, CGA’s business unit director – hospitality operators and food, EMEA.

“With the quality and convenience of at-home ordering rising, the lockdowns of the last 15 months have firmly embedded it in people’s habits. It will be fascinating to see where the balance of eating-out and ordering-in settles as Covid-19 restrictions loosen.”

*Photo: DisobeyArt/shutterstock.com