Food To Go - It's Back!

We've been watching the UK food to go market with interest. It's one of our areas of expertise as we've been involved in some of the biggest and best brands and suppliers over the past 20 years (we know, we don't look old enough). Sandwiches, salads, pasties, pies, snacks, drinks, shakes, we've done it all!

Of course it was one of the biggest victims of the pandemic with everyone locked at home, no commuting and no office working. There were many victims in retail and supply chain, with those who survived doing so under extreme duress but with a passion to make it through and change what they needed to to succeed.

Out of this came so very interesting thinking. Delivery obviously exploded and the likes of Costa and Starbucks ramped up their app ordering and customer engagement. Pret focused heavily on its coffee subscription which continues to evolve into a really interesting dynamic offer. Retailers looked to their convenience chains first, which were thriving but where they had to traditionally 'take the big store range'. They quickly saw some fantastic innovations more aligned to their shopper needs.

It has taken a long time to get going again and even with volumes looking far healthier than ever, consumer behaviour has shifted millions of occasions from the commuter routes to local shops as hybrid working seems to be here to stay. Recent news though makes for very positive reading for those supplying Food To Go.

Pret and Greggs Lead The Charge

As noted, the Pret subscription service has evolved into Club Pret with 10% off food driving a significant 65% increase in redemptions and delivering nearly 16% in UK sales growth in the past half year. This is an excellent result when you consider their premium pricing and train strikes impacting their commuter heartland. They are also back in profit, which although helped with an increasingly broad international business, shows that even budget-conscious shoppers will continue to pay for the right balance of service, quality and consistency that Pret does so well.

Greggs saw an impressive 21.5% sales growth in the last six months, driven by a focus on their Value mantra, perfect for the current environment, and continued successful store openings. We've seen a shift in the store estate with traditional high street stores facing closure in some places in favour of larger, out-of-town or estate stores targeting their blue collar worker and family demographic. Growth in their franchisee estate too will see Greggs popping in more transient locations where they've enjoyed some great success. From small beginnings, The Greggs App now accounts for over 10% of transactions and further expansion of delivery is underway with a second partner lined up alongside Just Eat.

What is interesting to note is that Paul, the patisserie-focused café and bakery chain, also saw sales increase by a huge 34%, showing the impact of the London recovery in commuters but also tourism numbers. They make headlines for other issues, mainly large losses, but you can't deny they are enjoying a bounce on the top line.

Retailers and Brands Up Their Game

Tesco started the refresh ball rolling earlier this year with a £5 Premium Meal Deal allowing you to buy virtually anything in their FTG range as part of the deal. Only Boots had an offer this wide (although they've trimmed both mains and snacks skus by quite some margin in the past five years).

It was excellent seeing our favourite major multiple Asda doing the right thing and creating a brand new food to go offer virtually from scratch. It's a perfect time to do it with others looking tired (Sainsbury's and Morrsions we're looking at you) and demand suddenly back to normal levels.

Asda have invested £1.2m in launching 47 new products and refreshing another 18, covering mains, snacks and drinks. It's an impressive piece of work which aligns to Asda's new found ambition to "dare to surprise and delight when it comes to quality, taste and innovation at remarkable value." (Sam Dickson, Chief Customer Officer)

Their pricing strategy too is flexible, so shoppers can get a great value deal at only £2.20, or can trade up to a more premium option with real clarity provided over pricing and what's included.

Great also to see leading brand Urban Eat launching new heat-to-eat products including burritos and paninis which see the first mention we've seen of air-fryer compatibility in food to go!

Tuk In Foods have also expanded their range from their core 'curry in a naan' concept with a new Bombay Mix snacking range, perfectly aligned to their brand positioning and the range of retailer customers they now have.

It is great to see after such a difficult time retailers, cafes and brands all now getting back to delivering great food to go experiences for their shoppers. We know a lot about this market, the shopper and supply dynamics and key players. If you're a food business who wants to break into or grow in this sector, get in touch here.