Delivery and takeaway sales not compromising consumers’ out of home spending

By Michelle Perrett

Published: 25 October, 2021

Delivery and takeaway are still booming having become a “crucial part of restaurant and pub operations”, the latest edition of the CGA & Slerp Hospitality at Home Tracker, which covers the month of September, has said. Encouragingly, this is not compromising consumers’ out of home spending, which is also on the rise and recovering post-pandemic.

The Tracker, which covers some of the leading managed restaurant and pub groups in the UK, revealed that delivery and takeaway food and drink sales were 130% higher this September than they were in 2019, and 35% higher than in September 2020, when they were operating under Covid restrictions.

Takeaway drink sales accounted for just under 10% of these sales, going some way to show how alcohol plays a less important part of the delivery mix. This was similar to August (10%) when the Home Tracker first showed alcohol as part of delivery and takeaway sales.

This figure could also be reflective of the fact that the majority of those in the Tracker are restaurant-focused brands.

Overall however, takeaways and delivery are still big business. Delivery and takeaways were worth 29% of the total sales of all businesses contributing to the data, and they play an increasingly important role in the overall offering for restaurants in the UK.

“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,” said Karl Chessell, director at CGA.

“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 said: “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.”

He added: “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.”

Overall, the on-trade is seeing encouraging growth. The September edition of the separate CGA Coffer Business Tracker, with a different cohort of contributing companies, indicated that managed restaurants, pubs and bars grew their sales by 8% compared to September 2019.

The Tracker also revealed that delivery sales, where people order for delivery at home, were more than five times higher than takeaway sales, where people travel to pick up their orders, due to the popularity of third party delivery platforms.

Delivery and takeaway sales have dropped slightly since the lockdown earlier this year, with a bumper month for home delivery and takeaway dining in April up 345% than the equivalent month in 2019. However, September still saw a rise on the corresponding months in 2019 and 2020.

Partners on the Tracker are: Azzurri Group, BrewDog, Burger King UK, Byron, Cote Restaurants, Gaucho Grill, Giggling Squid, Honest Burgers, Nando’s Restaurants, Pizza Express, Pizza Hut UK, Prezzo, Rosa’s Thai, TGI Fridays UK, The Restaurant Group, Tortilla, Wagamama and YO! Sushi.  

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