Here’s where the Opportunities are in the Burgeoning Food-to-Go Market
It will balloon to £16.1b in 2016, says IGD.
Food-to-go is set for expansion, as figures from IGD reveal that the the sector offers significant growth opportunities.
Driven by changing shopper lifestyles, IGD reports that the food-to-go market may be worth up to £16.1b in 2016. This reflects a 6.8% surge from 2015.
Coffee specialists, worth £2.7b, have sustained expansion, experimented with new lunchtime options, food in the evening and seasonal ranges. Quick service restaurants (QSRs), worth £5bn, have also evolved. Premium burger chains have been burgeoning, while many operators have been boosting focus on health and nutrition with more salad and fruit ranges.
Food-to-go specialists, worth £4.6bn, have been pumping up scale and impact, with more moving outside London, as well as introducing new health-driven brands and using technology to personalise the shopper experience. Many convenience, forecourt and other retailers, worth £2.5bn, have introduced specialist food-to-go counters in their stores and focused on the different times of day shoppers purchase food-to-go.
Supermarkets and hypermarkets, worth £1.2bn, have been trialling new formats and ideas in-store, moving food-to-go beyond the traditional sandwich, snack and drink deals.
IGD also revealed that lunch is the most popular reason for buying food on-the-go, as 7 in 10 (75%) of shoppers bought something for this occasion in the last month.
Meanwhile, over 2 in 10 (28%) bought something on-the-go for breakfast in the last month. More than 4 in 5 (45%) bought a snack on-the-go in the last month, and over 3 in 10 (32%) of leisure food-to-go shoppers bought a drink, snack or sandwich to eat in or relax.
Further, supermarkets (30%) followed by convenience stores (23%) are the most popular places to purchase a drink on-the-go.
