Britain’s Foodservice Market Improving, Says Horizons

Foodservice traffic and sales in the United Kingdom were stronger than anticipated during the fourth quarter of 2013, according to research and analysis from Horizons FS Ltd., a London-based foodservice research firm. And with the general economy improving, Horizons expects the first two quarters of 2014 “to build on the growth of Q4.,” according to the firm’s latest Quarterly Briefing Report and commentary on its early January QuickBite consumer survey.

The survey showed that “Britain’s eating-out market is stabilizing in terms of frequency…with the percentage of people eating out on the increase and currently at the same level as it was in 2010,” according to the QuickBite press release.

“This is good news for the U.K.’s foodservice sector,” said Nicola Knight, Horizon’s director of services. “We should now start to see an increase in the frequency with which consumers are eating out as the economy picks up, along with a gradual increase in average spend. Real growth will be slow, but is likely to be steady over the next 18 months.”

One caveat on the first-quarter outlook might be the severe weather that  several regions of the U.K. have experienced in recent weeks.

Information on Horizons research products can be found at hrzns.com or by e-mailing info@hrzns.com.

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