Eating out spend falls

The recession has prompted the first decline in the eating-out market for 40 years.

The report, Eating Out in the UK 2009, produced by industry analysts Allegra Strategies and commissioned by McDonald's, revealed the value of eating out would drop 0.5% from last year to £40.3b in 2009, with one in nine meals eaten away from the home in 2009, down from one in eight in 2008. This is the first time there has been a decline since the informal eating-out market emerged in the 1960s.

But the report also predicts that growth is expected to return to the market in 2010, with the market growing again to £47.5 billion by 2014 due to rising trends in affluence, mobility, more youthful older customers and an Olympics boost in 2012.

The report, which tracked the eating habits of thousands of consumers, found trends towards healthier eating, quality food and a demand for better service and value. It said operators needed to respond to the fact that some 75% of respondents valued quality and taste of food above price and more than half (58%) preferred to eat food sourced from the UK.

Steve Easterbrook, chief executive of McDonald¹s UK, said: "For the first time in 40 years, the recession is taking a bite out of a market which is traditionally resilient to downturns. The British public is becoming ever more discerning about the way they spend their money, and this is starting to affect the performance of the sector.

"Encouragingly, all the signs are that the sector will bounce back - helping drive the UK economy out of recession by creating more jobs and playing a role in revitalising the British high street. But only businesses which can deliver value and a great experience will prosper in the future."

Key findings include:

*On average UK consumers spend £12.75 a week on eating out

*7.7 billion informal meals are eaten out a year in the UK, or 128 meals for

every person in the UK

*There are now 250,500 informal eating out establishments across the UK, of

which an estimated 108,400 are independent ­ 43% of the total number of

outlets

*Eating out now accounts for 22% of what we spend on food and drink compared

to just 14% in 1969

*The informal eating out sector is now a top ten industry and employs 1.13

million people in the UK