A snapshot of facts

The largest uptake of supermarket deals was in the 16-24 and 35-44 age groups, in line with the trend for young adults to be less inclined or have less time to cook meals from scratch and families with children who are often also time-poor.

Men (15%) were also keener than women (11%) to spend their food pounds this way.

The latest QuickBite research also showed that consumer spend in restaurants had fallen, down to £10.64 from £11.15 per head last year. There was also a fall in the number of consumers opting to eat at a table service restaurant (from 48% to 46%) although a rise in fast food restaurant spending (11% to 12%).

Out of ten major European cities, London occupancy came top with an average of 76% for the first three months of 2009. Paris, Amsterdam, Vienna and Berlin all had higher average room rates than London, but their occupancies were considerably lower, ranging from just 53.1% in Vienna to 68.8% in Paris.

In the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same period a year earlier, the sample of four and five star London hotels reported daily hotel profit down by 9.5%.

Elsewhere profits fell more sharply: in Paris by 30.7%; in Amsterdam by 36.6%; and in Vienna by 47.5%.

UK beer sales dropped by 8.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2009, compared to the same quarter in 2008, according to the latest UK Quarterly Beer Barometer, published today by the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA).

The UK Quarterly Beer Barometer shows that 1.7 million fewer pints were drunk every day from January to March, than in the same period in 2008.

Compared with the first quarter ten years ago, 326 million fewer pints were sold across the country– a decline of 3.6 million pints a day.

Beer sales in pubs, bars and restaurants were down 6.3 per cent on the same quarter in 2008 – equating to 753,000 fewer pints every day. In total, 68 million fewer pints were sold in the on-trade during January to March 2009 compared with the same period in 2008.

More UK chain hotel general managers are positive about trading at their hotels in the current quarter than they were during the first three months of the year, according to the latest confidence monitor from TRI Hospitality Consulting.

Of the 118 general managers who responded to the survey, 39% were optimistic or very optimistic about their performance in the second quarter compared to 29% when asked about trading in the first quarter.

When the TRI Confidence Monitor was conducted in January, only 16% felt more optimistic than three months earlier.

Last year Costa trained approximately 2,500 delegates. This year, with the opening of its third academy, it will increase that to approximately 4,500 delegates.