Consumer Behaviour Insight
March breakfast and lunch spend a 12-month high... Spend at breakfast and lunch hit a 12-month high in March, according to the latest data from MCA’s Eating Out Panel. However, participation levels remained flat year-on-year with 93.1% of adults choosing to eat out, reflecting continued uncertainty in consumer confidence. Participation was up by 0.7% on a month-by-month basis. Average spend per visit in March was up for every day-part but dinner saw a more modest 1% rise to £17.16 per head as opposed to an 8% lift at lunch to £7.60 and 11% for breakfast to £4.93. Spend per snacking visit was up 15% to £3.82. Frequency was also up at every day part, with breakfast showing the sharpest increase of 35% - to 2.5 visits per month, snacking up 28% to 6.7 visits, dinner rising 20% to 2.7 and lunch up 7% to 4.8. In terms of channel breakdowns, coffee shops cemented their position as the top destination for breakfast, having outstripped fast food outlets in every month since June, to settle at 24% of the market as of March.
Source: MCA, 26th April 2016