Accounting for 83% of growth in the country’s ‘sluggish’ foodservice industry, late-night snacking (12-7am) is particularly popular among Londoners, who make up 26% of night-time traffic nationwide (or 67m visits per year).
Insights director at the NPD Group (who conducted the research), Dominic Allport, said: “London is leading the overnight and early morning trend.
“The two-years of growth we have identified includes the period since the start of London’s night tube operations (August 2016) and the months since the announcement in July 2017 of Sadiq Khan’s 24-hour vision for London.
“A huge variety of sectors routinely involve night work – including hotels and restaurants, arts and entertainment, media, transport, health and social work, wholesale and retail.
“People in these occupations want to visit foodservice outlets to buy food and beverages that they can consume away from home.
“Our data indicates the foodservice industry is contributing to London’s 24-hour economy. And we know from other foodservice trends that major cities will often follow London.”
With the overnight out-of-home market now worth an estimated £1.2bn in the UK, NPD said the “growing demand for overnight and early morning food and beverages consumed away from home is an important new source of growth” for businesses.