Dine-in occasions continue to increase as restaurants, pubs and bars grow share

By Michelle Perrett

Published: 10 November, 2021

Consumers are increasingly dining out with more going to restaurants, pubs and bars, the latest update to the Lumina Intelligence UK Eating Out Market Report 2021 has found.

The proportion of out-of-home occasions that were purchased and consumed on-premise increased from 70.6% in the 12 weeks ending 11/07/21 to 74% in the 12 weeks ending 03/10/2021.

This follows news in September from the research company that showed that dine-in occasions were on the rise as consumers return in-person to restaurants.

It said that in the latest 12-week period, over half of the UK adult population had an eating or drinking out occasion each week. This peaked at 58% for the week ending 05/09/2021, which coincided with the late August bank holiday, warm weather and increased leisure time driving a rise in out of home occasions.

The good news is that as well more dine-in occasions taking place, the average spend also increased by +8.9% in the latest 12 weeks, from £11.01 per visit to £11.99. The report said this was driven by consumers visiting higher spend channels, including restaurants, pubs and bars. Lunch accounted for over one-in-three (34%) eating out occasions, it said.

Restaurants proved the most popular and increased their share of total eating out occasions from 15.3% to 18.8%, while pubs and bars increased share from 15.4% to 17.8%.

While the Quick Service Retail channel maintained the highest share of occasions, this dropped over the latest 12-week period from 37.7% to 35.7%, driven by a decline in delivery occasions.

“The easing of restrictions is resulting in consumers returning to more indulgent, higher ticket channels, such as pubs/bars and restaurants. This will come as positive news for operators, ahead of a critical festive period that is reliant on restrictions remaining eased and consumer confidence in socialising continuing to grow,” said Blonnie Whist, insight director at Lumina Intelligence.

“The end of summer also coincided with many returning to the office in some capacity, which will be a key driver in the increase in lunch occasions. City centre operators, who have had a torrid 18 months will be buoyed by the steady return of workers and the increases in commuter traffic.”

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