Future Food Update - September 2020

The foodservice and hospitality sector continues to face regional lockdowns and curfew closing. Regardless, we've continued to update our research which charts consumers readiness for change and innovation through the lens of sustainability, cuisines and eating out of home more broadly. In this month's report we review the impact of the UK's 'Eat Out to Help Out' scheme and how behaviours have changed now that the scheme has ended.

Here are 7 key takeout's from the September 2020 panel:

1) Higher volumes of vegetable based meals with meat were enjoyed when eating out this month, which may be driven by the impact of COVID on diets.

2) However, throughout the tracking period, when eating out, consumers have eaten more meat based meals compared to when eating at home, where more have eaten half plant based/half meat based dishes.

3) Sustainability factors are of importance to consumers, but are also driven by price sensitivity factors.

4) As we head towards the autumnal months, even though consumers have explorative palettes to try new cuisines, the comforts of British food continue to be enjoyed by the majority.

5) As millions are raised to fund the world's largest insect protein farm, a fifth of consumers and experts are interested in their use in dishes (although not currently aware).

6) For the majority of venues, excluding fast food outlets, consumer intention to visit is much lower than pre-COVID, which is likely impacted by the local lockdowns and curfews.

7) A key influence for consumers visiting pubs, bars and restaurants is a desire to support local businesses, but safety measures, quality & price of food also influence their decision.

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