News and Trends

  Meaningful Vision’s Competitive Intelligence System delves into puzzling insights regarding consumer footfall traffic across the top 100 chains, encompassing fast food outlets, coffee shops, casual dining, and pubs. Notably, there has been a discernible shift, as consumer footfall traffic moved from a positive 2.3% in Q1 to a negative -1.7% in Q3. Despite an overall market growth of 0.2% in Jan-Sep 2023 compared to the previous year, like-for-like traffic witnessed a decline of 1%. According to our estimates at Meaningful Vision, the average check has seen a modest increase of 6-8%. This stands in contrast to the substantial 17% surge in price growth for individual menu items throughout 2023. In response to economic pressures, consumers are actively seeking savings, gravitating towards Combo Meal Deals and available discounts. This shift is reflected in their behavior, with orders being downsized, omitting less essential items such as drinks, snacks, or sides,” comments Maria Van...

Consumer traffic across the top 100 chains dipped to -1.7% in Q3. Meaningful Vision’s latest report, examining the critical factors affecting the Food Service Industry in the UK in 2023 uncovers some puzzling contradictions as it saw a decline in Consumer Traffic across the top 100 chains (spanning fast-food outlets, coffee shops, casual dining, and pubs) from a positive 2.3% in Q1, dropping to  -1.7% in Q3. Despite this decline in traffic, remarkably the sector has managed to return a modest increase in sales. Overall market growth in the first nine months, between January to September 2023, accounted for 0.2%. Some areas of the market are experiencing significant growth in footfall, with fast-food showing a 1% growth in the first nine months of the year. In contrast, restaurants and pubs have seen footfall drop by 5% over the past nine months. The growth dynamics show significant variation across regions and cities.  Fast food traffic growth in the top 25 cities during the f...

 

/Meaningful Vision QSRs are putting more thought into LTOs as a way to enhance value and attract customers. Meaningful Vision’s recent Market Intelligence report discovers that the share of LTOs and seasonal items (available for a maximum of three months) comprises roughly 15% of the QSR chains' menus, with a 2% increase over the past year. Limited Time Offers are gaining importance, with various categories focusing on enhancing value to retain and attract customers. Categories with the highest proportion of time-limited items include cookies and cakes (40%), bakery (25%), sandwiches and hot beverages (20%), whilst pizzas, cold drinks, snacks, and salads occupy the lower end of this spectrum with less than 10%.    Individual approaches to menu updates vary widely.  For example, McDonald's introduces temporary menu items every few weeks, to encourage new trials, while providing exclusive in-app pricing for their loyal customers. Conversely, KFC adheres to a stand...

Global Consumer Trends – Opportunities for 2024 Faced with multiple personal economic, health and emotional challenges over recent years,  consumers  feel they need to make changes.  Three  in  five   consumers  say they are making lifestyle changes due to global issues of concern, and 21% have made much or a great deal  of  change.   Understanding how and why  consumer  lifestyles and attitudes are changing is fundamental to ensuring your innovations meet evolving  consumer  needs.   Consumers Investing in Local Consumers  navigating the many global issues around them say they are choosing to spend time with family and friends and investing in local.  64% of  consumers  say  that these global issues of concern means that local communities will have to become more self-sufficient , also  leading to consumers finding more conscious ways of living with an eye on both planet and pocket . ...

  What happens when the casual European diner, the Latin American budget-balancer, and the traditional Asian foodie walk into the Foodservice arena? They stir the pot in unexpected ways. Uncover these shifts and more in our ground-breaking global report, "Turning Tables" . What's cooking? In Europe, downtrading is the new black as consumers scout for cost-effective ways to dine out. In Latin America, consumers aren't just choosing between dining out and grocery shopping; they're doing both, but with a careful eye on the till. In Asia, meal collection is stealing the limelight from delivery services, heralding a nuanced shift in consumer preference. The recipe for success is changing The focus isn't merely on what people are eating, but how and why they are eating it. Whether it's Quick Service Restaurants making sense of cost pressures or Europeans opting for more i...