Diners are becoming more money-conscious

23rd July 2009, 10:03am

Analysts yesterday predicted that the recession will take five years to completely subside. With this in mind, we take a look at how the eating out market has changed and how diners are becoming more money-conscious.

QuickBite has found encouraging signs that consumers are prepared to spend again, with 68% of respondents to the survey saying they intended to eat out as often in the coming 12 months as they had in the past.

But the survey demonstrates how consumers are increasingly price-conscious when it comes to eating out.

Key findings are:

The top five favourite places to buy a meal outside the home are:
Chinese restaurants
Pubs/pub restaurants
Fast food outlets
Indian restaurants
Fish & chip shops

For a sit-down meal our favourite is a pub restaurant (21%), followed by fast food outlets (15%), coffee shops/cafés (11%), and hotel restaurants (10%).

Meal spend per head is highest in:
French restaurants (£20.66)
Italian (£18.78)
Indian (£18.71)
Hotel restaurants (£17.11)

Meal spend per head is lowest in:
Coffee shops/cafés (£5)
In-store eating/supermarkets (£4.52)
Work/education (£4.27) locations

Spend per head increases with age:
16-24 year olds spend an average of £9.35
55-64 year olds spend £12.86. This figure drops off for those of pensionable age (£9.88).

A sliding scale in eating out frequency exists from ABs (managerial workers, professionals) to C1s (supervisors, administrators) to C2s (skilled manual workers) with respondents falling into those categories reporting frequencies of 4.1, 3.1 and 3 times in the past two weeks respectively. Market volumes and spends per head follow a similar pattern.

There is a definite North/South divide with 56% of Northerners (compared to 51% of Southerners) being influenced by price.

16-24 year olds and skilled manual workers reported reducing their alcohol consumption more often than other age groups and socio-economic groups.

Related Articles:

• 24 Jul 2009 - Recession busting course for small hospitality businesses

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