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Britain’s top restaurant groups achieved modest year-on-year growth of 1.5% in delivery and takeaway sales in April, according to the latest NIQ Hospitality at Home Tracker.
The figures represent four straight months of sub-inflation increases in like-for-like sales. It comes as a squeeze on discretionary spending has been tightened by the war in the Middle East, which is raising the prospect of further rises in households’ energy costs and interest rates.
The data shows a sharp contrast in the performance of deliveries and takeaways. Restaurants’ like-for-like delivery sales were 5.7% higher in April than in the same month last year, but revenues from takeaways and click-and-collect orders fell by 5.9%.
The drop marks the 13th consecutive month of negative numbers for pick-up sales. The ongoing migration between the two methods means deliveries now attract 12.7p in every pound spent with restaurants – well over double the value of takeaways at 5.1p.
While the overall trend is flat, the rollout of delivery operations means restaurants are generating more substantial growth on a total sales basis. Adding in new restaurants, or ones where deliveries and takeaways have been launched for the first time, groups achieved year-on-year growth of 10.7% in April.
Karl Chessell, hospitality director EMEA at NIQ, said: “In the context of a tough trading environment, stable like-for-like at-home sales is a reasonable performance from restaurants. However, with so many operating costs still rising and the prospect of yet more hikes to come, sustaining profitability is difficult.
“The football World Cup should boost deliveries in June and July, but the flip side is that many restaurants will be quieter as fans watch games at home or in pubs. Whether eating out or ordering in, consumers are going to be very demanding on both value and quality, and operators will have to work hard for every sale.”
