Affluent Brits flock to chicken shops and restaurants as sales top £2.3bn
More than a third of consumers are also ordering home deliveries more often from burger and chicken outlets/restaurants compared to a year ago.
Affluent Brits are becoming a larger part in the country’s growing demand for chicken.
According to the latest research from Mintel, the number of affluent Brits - consumers having money left at the end of the month for a few luxuries or savings - shot up from 40% in 2018 to 45% in 2019.
Almost half (47%) of those describing their financial situation as 'OK' visited a chicken shop in 2019, compared to 41% a year earlier. The number of Brits with a challenging financial situation visiting chicken shops dropped from 45% in 2018 to 42% in 2019.
The growing popularity of chicken shops/outlets among Britain’s better-off consumers comes at a time when 67% of consumers agree that burger and chicken restaurants are offering more healthy options than a year ago, rising to 72% of affluent Brits. Korean fried chicken is also proving particularly popular, with 71% of consumers saying they are “very” or “somewhat” interested in the dish.
Mintel projects the value of the chicken restaurant market to surge by 5% in 2019, with sales of just over £2.3bn.
Burger sales are faring well, with the sector is expected to grow by 4% in 2019, bringing sales to more than £5.2bn. This year, Brits are set to devour £7.5bn worth of burgers and chicken across Britain’s restaurants and outlets.
“The guilt-free indulgence of healthier, free-range chicken has clearly met affluent consumers’ value expectations, even if better chicken costs more than a burger. Well-off Brits' love for chicken also suits other food trends, such as eating more high-protein foods. This includes boneless chicken snacks such as bite-sized chicken fillets with dipping sauces, which are great for on-the-go consumption,” Mintel senior foodservice analyst Trish Caddy said.
Stronger demand for home delivery
According to Mintel, almost four in ten (37%) consumers are ordering more food for home delivery from burger and chicken outlets/restaurants compared to a year ago (25%).
70% of takeaway and home delivery users say they prefer the comfort of eating at home than dressing up to go out.
“Consumers are increasingly expecting products and services to be brought directly to them. The burger and chicken market is making a serious effort to push into home delivery, with a trend of brands partnering up with delivery aggregators such as Deliveroo and Uber Eats. Eventually, big players may take back control of their delivery functions by managing an in-house ecommerce system, making it more accessible for them to expand at a faster rate than some of their appointed third-party delivery partners.” Caddy explained.
Almost half (48%) of burger and chicken users would also pay more to eat at a plastic-free burger/chicken outlet/restaurant, rising to 65% of 25-34 year olds. Plastic pollution awareness, meanwhile, is much higher in over-45s (62%) who are considerably more likely than 16-44 year olds (41%) to have heard news about single-use plastic.
Meanwhile, 44% of users would like burgers and chicken outlets/restaurants to offer more dishes with meat alternatives/substitutes, with interest peaking amongst 25-34 year olds (60%). Mintel says veganism and vegetarianism remains “very low down” on British consumers’ dining out priorities, with 9% citing vegan foods as something they would like to see more of when dining out.
“The tide is rising in favour of plastic-free, with diners even prepared to dip into their own pockets to ensure their environmental/sustainability values are achieved. Companies and local authorities will have to make recycling as easy as possible for consumers to have a significant impact on the environment.” Caddy said.
