Food-to-go outperforms groceries sector

According to the latest sales insights from IGD, the UK’s food-to-go sector is set to grow at twice the rate of overall grocery retail, increasing to £22.8 billion by 2023, up from £17.8 billion this year.

Gavin Rothwell, Head of Food-to-Go at IGD, says: “The food-to-go market remains a strong growth opportunity that continues to provide a great source of inspiration and innovation. We’re forecasting solid growth across each of the five segments, but this will become harder to come by for operators, retailers and suppliers amid an increasingly competitive landscape. But while growth will slow, we’re expecting it to remain strong as more consumers buy food-to-go more often and as more operators target different types of locations and missions.”

He added, “Across food-to-go, collaboration between partners with the same values and mutually beneficial propositions, have been in the ascendance. Crussh and Sainsbury’s, M&S and Wasabi are two high profile collaborations, but there are already many more underway and we expect significant development here. Larger retail stores undergoing remodelling in particular offer some great opportunities for collaborations between retailers and food-to-go partners.”

The sector’s ability to evolve with changing consumer demands in health and wellness and around sustainability is increasingly critical to its success he added: “The best food-to-go operators are highly attuned to the wider mindset of their shoppers. They have responded to shape their wider propositions accordingly. Increasingly this will become expected by food-to-go consumers, and those that don’t keep up will stand out.”

Photo Caption: By continuing to adapt, the food-to-go sector will continue to grow says IGD.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The post Food-to-go outperforms groceries sector appeared first on Hort News on 6 September 2018.