Which menu categories are driving UK foodservice inflation?

Extras and dips recorded the biggest price increases.

UK foodservice inflation eased to 6.8% in June 2026 but remained four times the ONS food and beverage inflation rate of 1.7%, according to Meaningful Vision data.

The gap has widened even as restaurant price growth has started to slow. Meaningful Vision’s same-item foodservice pricing data shows inflation increased from 5.7% in March 2025 to 7.7% in December, remained at 7.7% in March 2026 and then eased to 6.8% in June.

Retail food and beverage inflation moved down much faster, from 4.5% in June 2025 to 1.7% a year later.

Extras, bakery and hot drinks lead price growth 
Price growth varied widely across menu categories in Q2 2026, with an 8.4 percentage-point gap between the fastest and slowest increases.

Extras and dips recorded the strongest growth at 10.6% year on year, followed by savoury bakery at 9.0% and hot drinks at 8.2%. Sweet bakery prices increased by 7.7%, while sides rose by 7.5%. All five categories were above the overall foodservice inflation rate of 6.8%.

At the lower end of the range, soup prices increased by 3.3%, pizza by 3.1% and lunch deals by just 2.2%.

For operators, category-level foodservice market intelligence can help identify where competitors are still increasing prices, where inflation is beginning to moderate and which menu areas may require closer attention through H2 2026, Meaningful Vision said.

Delivery continues to carry a higher increase
The channel also remains important. Delivery menu prices increased by 7.2% year on year, compared with 6.6% for dine-in and in-store purchases.

That 0.6 percentage-point gap suggests operators should continue to track delivery pricing separately from in-store menus, particularly where aggregator commissions and fulfilment costs affect pricing decisions.

Maria Vanifatova, CEO of Meaningful Vision, said that foodservice inflation is starting to come down, but operators and consumers are not seeing the same change across every part of the menu. 

"Extras, bakery and hot drinks are still recording increases well above the overall rate, while pizza and lunch deals are moving much more slowly. For H2, operators need to compare pricing by category and channel, not just against the overall market average," Vanifatova said.