The quarterly tracker revealed pubs were increasingly looking to reduce the number of items on menus as they continue to face sharp cost pressures and limited ways to absorb them.
This trend highlighted a “growing trade-off between variety and operational efficiency” for the sector, the report, based on data from QSR, coffee shops, chain restaurants and pubs and bars, said.
It follows data from CGA by NIQ and Prestige Purchasing earlier this week that showed foodservice price inflation had jumped by 2.3% in the year to April 2025, attributed to a mix of global market volatility, persistent supply chain issues and rising energy costs.
Main focus
According to the data from Lumina, which was collected in Q1 2024 and Q1 2025, total food and non-alcoholic beverage prices have increased by 3% year-on-year, while menu average remains higher at 6.8%, driven by cost increases.
Starters, mains and desserts now cost on average 4.1% more than they did last year at pubs, while sides have increased by 3.4%.
The main focus for many respondents has been on core dishes including starters and mains, where demand is stronger and value perception is clearer.
Fish and chicken dishes reigned supreme when it comes to starters while burgers or chicken dishes, fries or vegetables dishes and cake or ice cream came top of the pops when it comes to mains, sides and desserts.
An example of this is JD Wetherspoon’s (JDW) new range of gourmet burgers, which launched earlier this year and includes a Buttermilk Buffalo Chicken Burger served with a blue cheese sauce, Naga chilli sauce and American cheese, topped with a spicy chicken wing for visual appeal.
Affordable add-ons
The report added lower-priced menu items, including sides, starters and desserts, were increasingly being added to menus in a bid to encourage incremental spend, as “affordable add-ons” can help soften the perception of price increases while boosting average transaction value.
In addition, pubs are tapping into new dayparts by offering indulgent desserts that attract afternoon treat-seekers, blending comfort with casual anytime dining to create new occasions for casual indulgence to compete with traditional daytime channels like coffee and sandwich.
However, Lumina warned while affordable add-ons can help drive spend, consumer price sensitivity is also on the rise.
The pub operators included in the report included JDW, Hungry Horse, Vintage Inns, Toby Carvery, Chef & Brewer, BrewDog, Revolution, Slug & Lettuce, Nicholson’s, All Bar One, Farmhouse Inns, Ember Inns, Beefeater, Brewers Fayre.
