News

Tonkotsu to launch a new site in Ealing

This is the ramen brand’s 11th outlet following the launch of their Stratfor International branch.

Kanada-Ya launches Kid's Menu for their Islington branch

The mini menu will be available starting from September 14.

Gaucho Group bought out of administration

The move could save 16 restaurants and 750 jobs.

Mariage Frères to open five-story tea emporium in UK

The site claims to have the longest tea wall in the world.

UKHospitality warns against mandatory calorie labelling

The statement follows after the government announced that they will hold a consultation on requiring calorie labelling from businesses.

Pizza Hut launches nationwide pizza buffet

The pizza chain says that its for their customers who cannot visit during weekdays.

LEON opens first restaurant in USA

This marks as the fast food chain’s 5th international outlet.

Restaurants experienced 8.8% spend growth year-on-year in August, study says

Soaring prices drives Brits in planning to reduce expenditures despite spend growth.

Just Eat sponsors bike hire scheme in Edinburgh

Transport for Edinburgh says that this will attract a broad range of residents, visitors, commuters and students.

Farmer J opens second site in London

The healthy food brand is known for their signature "fieldtrays."

Casual dining visits up by 7%, report says

The sector now makes up of 5% in the whole out-of-home (OOH) foodservice industry. The casual dining sector continues to grow in Britain as it gained an extra 35 million visits or a 7% increase for the year ending June 2018, according to the latest study by The NPD Group. The market research company says its growth rate is four times faster than the overall out-of-home (OOH) foodservice industry. One of its drivers is positive consumer recommendations on social media or review sites. It went up to 38% year-on-year, three times faster than the OOH market. “Casual dining restaurants remain one of the key growth stories in Britain’s OOH foodservice market, despite the high-profile closures, rescues and restructuring seen in this sector in recent months. But while the market is expanding, success is not guaranteed,” Dominic Allport, NPD Group insights director, said. “One of the problems has been the tendency for some operators to scale up too quickly, with ‘quantity of sites’ outweighing ‘quality of sites’. But the biggest issue is the pressure on profit margins with business rates, rent, food and labour all costing more in an over-supplied market.“ Allport also reported that one of their solutions is expanding outside London where the costs for the sites are lower. An additional 23 million casual dining visits was experienced in Southeast and Southwest of England whereas London only had an extra 3 million. The family and the young adult segments contributed to its growth. Family visits grew to 11% while people aged 16-24 are up 15% and a 9% growth among those aged 25-34. Other strategies within the casual dining sector includes delivery services, which experienced a 9% increase year-on-year. The use of meal deals or promos went up to 16% year-on-year while order ahead/click and collect visits rose to 25% year-on-year. They are also expanding their breakfast options as it is revealed to be growing 10 times greater than the breakfast growth in the whole OOH market. “The continued growth of casual dining in Britain is good news for our foodservice industry. The ability of delivery platforms to reduce barriers to entry has particularly helped small brands to expand,” Allport further commented. However, he also warned that there will be more closures as they are still most at risk due to costs pressures.  

Greggs takes on Starbucks with rival pumpkin spiced latte

The food-on-the-go retailer will also offer the drink for free to customers registering on their rewards app.