Retailers set to recover lost ground in food-to-go, says IGD

Retailers suffered a market share decline in food-to-go compared to foodservice operators during the pandemic but should recover strongly, says the Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD).

The IGD expects retailers overall share of the food-to-go market to reduce to 21% in 2021 from 24% in 2019.

But this will gradually increase to 23% by 2026 as momentum starts to return to retail food-to-go.

Nicola Knight, senior analyst for food-to-go and author of the forecasts, said: “In 2021, retailers have faced increased competition from foodservice operators who adapted quickly to changing consumer habits and demands.

“And, due to the decrease in demand and shift in shopping habits, retailers reallocated space to other categories.

“While larger stores have benefitted from consolidated shopping missions, smaller stores have experienced a greater dip in sales but, conversely, are likely to recover more quickly as some pre-pandemic behaviours return.”

Overall the IGD believes food-to-go market should return to pre-Covid levels in the second half of 2022.

The IGD predicts that food-to-go will be worth £15.5bn by the end of 2021, which is 82.5% of its 2019 value.

It believes the market should return to 2019 levels by mid 2022, six months earlier than expected.

Knight added: “This is a better-than-expected result, so is really positive news for the sector; by 2026, the market will be worth £22.7bn which is 20.5% more than 2019.”