Food sales now account for a fifth of pubs' turnover
Booming pub food sales are helping the whole industry to grow, according to two new reports on the state of the pub market.
Pub grub sales rose steadily from 1999 and by last year accounted for more than a fifth - 21 per cent - of the trade's total turnover, according to the Public Houses Market Report 2004, put together by data company Research and Markets.
The research investigated the many changes that took place in the industry between 1999 and 2003.
"In order to overcome the challenges presented by take-home beer, in-home entertainment, health-conscious eating and drinking, and the crackdown on drink-driving, pubs were forced to reinvent themselves," the report stated.
It added that by targeting specific customers or turning to offering specific types of food, pubs had responded well to social changes and had turned them to their advantage.
And putting more emphasis on food has helped push UK pubs' total turnover up by nine per cent over the last five years, according to the UK Public Houses Development Report by another research company, Market & Business Development (MBD).
According to the MBD report turnover in the UK's pubs rose to £28.6bn in 2003, which was a nine per cent rise on 1999's figures.
And food sales, which were worth £5.2bn in 1999, rose to £6.1bn in 2003.
The report said: "The main factor behind the growth in public house revenue has been a trend towards a greater emphasis on catering with the provision of food providing growth in average spend per visit."
The importance of food in pubs in the report mirrors The Publican's own figures. In The Publican's Market Report 2003, a survey of 700 licensees, we discovered food sales in 2003 accounted for about a third of total turnover - up from 26 per cent in 2002.
What the numbers show
- Turnover of UK pubs in 2003 - £28.6bn (two per cent up on 2002 and nine per cent up on 1999)
- Food sales in UK pubs in 2003 - £6.1bn (up from £5.2bn in 1999)
- Average turnover per pub in 2003 - £480,570 (up two per cent on 2002)
Source: The UK Public Houses Development Report. See www.mbdltd.co.uk for details
