The rise of casual dining and fast casual was a noticeable trend in 2014, with more people eating out for breakfast, lunch and snacking, but less eating out for dinner.
Menus across the UK are becoming increasingly globalised with more US-inspired, Pan Asian, Mediterranean and South American flavours being found, according to the research. Horizon’s Menurama report looks at the menus from the top 115 foodservice operators and found dishes such as Burritos, Hot Dogs and Wasabi were becoming more of a staple on menus.
Other than London, the company highlighted Manchester, Leeds and Bristol, as well as market towns on the commuter belt, as UK hot spots for new and emerging brands to enter the market in 2014.
The top sectors for small, fast-growing brands are the healthy quick service, fast casual dining, Italian, Mexican and British casual dining, as well as Steakhouse dining and coffee shops.
Services at airports, train stations and motorway service stations also saw growth in sales, with Heathrow and Manchester Airports seeing 6.7% and 7% growth respectively.
The blurring and evolution of well-known brands in the retail and foodservice sectors was noted as a key trend in the seasonal briefing, with the likes of Waitrose trialing hospitality ventures, Harrods launch pop-up restaurants with Michelin-starred chefs and Harry Ramsden’s partnering with Tescos.
The blurring was also noted with cost sector catering companies such as CH&Co merging with café chain Apostrophe and Brakes opening their first cash and carry as part of a multi-channel deal.
The World Cup, despite England’s early exit, was good news for pub operators, with craft brewery BrewDog reporting a 70% increase in sales and Loungers reporting a 52% increase.
Horizon’s seasonal briefing was presented at the Arena Christmas Event at the Oriental Mandarin Hyde Park Hotel on December 1st.