The report, Eating Out - Today and Tomorrow, identifies the key emerging trends and habits shaping eating out in the UK, following a survey of more than 2,000 nationally representative pub and restaurant customers.
Over two-thirds of respondents described themselves as passionate about food and drink (66%), totally adventurous in terms of cuisine (62%) and frustrated by some aspects of waiting (70%), rising to 75% in Generation Y (18-30 year olds).
Visitor reviews were important to 41% of customers, whilst 37% would prefer a tech free environment with that figure only dropping to 32% for Generation Y.
Almost a third of families eat out together on a weekly basis (29%), whilst 31% of all respondents say they eat out at least once a week, even higher for Londoners (44%), the self-employer (45%) and 18-34 year olds (41%).
Three in five over 65s say they are totally adventurous with new cuisines, and one in five eat out at least once a week, whilst 94% of all respondents expressed an international cuisines repertoire of five.
The report lists three core themes: frequency and speed, technology and the ever-changing lifestyle patterns.
Over half of all respondents described their working hours as irregular, changing or unpredictable and more than 30% admitted to skipping breakfast, rising to 40% of 18-24 year olds.
GPS navigation would be important to 34% of Londoners in an eating-out mobile phone app, whilst 41% of all respondents want to see visitor reviews on an app. Over a fifth (22%) of Londoners highlighted that automated payments would be beneficial, with a third of Generation Y agreeing.
One in five people last ate out mid-morning or mid-afternoon, whilst 37% expect to go out to eat a sit-down breakfast in coming years. More than a third said they will eat out at a shopping centre in the future.
Clare Blampied, managing director at Sacla’ UK, said: “The launch of Eating Out – Today and Tomorrow responds to the UK’s increasing passion towards food and consumers’ higher expectations when it comes to dining out-of-home.
“We are extremely excited to have produced this brand new trends-driven report. It delivers an in-depth look into the foodservice industry, and provides strategic insight for operators looking to improve their offering.”
Paul Flatters, Managing Director at Trajectory said: “This provides a fresh perspective on UK consumer attitudes, behaviours and expectations. Consumers feel less constricted in their behaviour by traditional norms of time, place and social status, a core theme throughout the report and a concept we labelled the deregulation of life. The four fundamental elements of deregulation of life – time, place, individualism and mobile devices – demand that foodservice operators consider how they could or should offer the flexibility and choice to match today’s deregulated lifestyles.”
The report is based on primary research from interviews with 2,034 adults exploring their lifestyles, regular routines and habits, plus their relationship with food and eating out. Interviews were drawn from the Research Now UK Consumer Panel.
The report also includes contributions from leading industry figures including Tim Martin, chairman of JD Wetherspoon, Peter Martin, vice president at CGA Peach, Steve Richards, CEO at Casual Dining Group, Kate Nichols, chief executive at the ALMR and Barry Vera, chef director at The One Group.