Delivery and takeaway sales at triple pre-Covid levels for restaurant and pub groups

Deliveries and takeaways remain a core part of managed restaurant and pub groups’ sales despite the return of eating out, CGA’s latest Hospitality at Home Tracker reveals.

The tracker showed that sales in June were 225% higher than in June 2019 – a drop on growth figures of 345% in April and 273% in May, reflecting the return of most restaurants and pubs for the first full month of indoor service of 2021 in June.

While some consumers have opted to start eating out again, deliveries and takeaways accounted for 35% of managed operators’ total sales in June, with eat-in contributing the remainder (65%).

Karl Chessell, CGA’s business unit director – hospitality operators and food, EMEA, said: “The restaurant and pub delivery market has flourished during the lockdowns of the last 16 months, and while growth has slowed from the period of forced closures, it is going to stay a very big part of managed groups’ sales.

“We can expect to see more people revert to eating and drinking out now that Covid restrictions have been eased, but some consumers will not want to give up their new order-from-home habits. Juggling the three elements of eat-in, take-out and third-party delivery is going to be a big operational priority over the remainder of 2021 and beyond. Those that get it right can maximise this revenue stream without diluting dine-in sales.”

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