Pubs suffer as consumers switch to takeaways

Mid-market pubs are losing trade to the takeaway market, according to the latest analysis of eating out trends.

However, at the top end of the market, destination food pubs are benefiting from a sales growth spurt.

The QuickBite survey, which tracks sales across the pub and restaurant market, shows that pubs have lost significant sales across the past year in 'value' sector - defined as spend between £5 and £11 a meal.

The main beneficiary has been the takeaway sector, dominated by Chinese and Indian meals.

The survey estimates that across the 12 months to September, Chinese meals became the most popular out-of home meal, growing in market value to £5bn and pushing pubs off the top of the table.

David Humphreys, director of FMCG, which publishes the QuickBite survey, said: "Some of this growth has been at the expense of the pub with some consumers switching from pub meals to takeaways."

Independent pubs have also come under pressure from the large number of 'two for one' and similar discount deals being offered by branded restaurant chains - including managed pub groups such as Spirit and Whitbread.

"The greatest contributor to pubs' decline has been the sharp loss of C2s - typically skilled manual workers - and a substantial fall-off in the 55-64 age group," said Humphreys.

FMCG estimates that over the year to September, the foodservice market has declined by 13 per cent to £29.3bn.

However, upmarket pubs have benefited from double digit sales growth in the 'premium casual' segment, where average spend is between £17 and £23 a meal. This includes gastro pubs, destination country inns, as well as speciality restaurants such as the Greene King owned Loch Fyne chain.

Humphreys said: "Analysis of our data suggests that this growth has been achieved by mainstream casual consumers trading up whilst eating out less often."

• Confirmation that branded pub operators are fighting hard for share of the value market has come from Whitbread. The owner of the Beefeater and Brewer's Fayre brands said a strong performance it is pubs over the 39 weeks to November 27 was "driven by value for money offers". Covers were up 9.8 per cent and like-for-like sales up 5.9 per cent.