Cold drinks heat up: top food-to-go categories by value
Top Food to go categories by value 
     
  £m % change
Drinks 11310.8 4.9
Quick Meals 8568.0 4
Snacks 5346.4 4.2
     
Top four sectors in Quick Meals to go
  £m % change
  Sandwiches  5567.9 3
  Salads 733.4 0.9
  Savoury Pastry   1016.5 6.3
  Sushi 122.3 10.5
     
 Source: Kantar Worldpanel, 52 w/e 9 September 2018  

 Almost all consumers (97.8%) have engaged with food to go at some point this year, shopping the category four times a week on average.

Cold drinks drove growth in drinks to go this year. A particular area of activity was cold coffee and tea, which emerged as the fastest-growing sector in the entire food-to-go market. Consumer spend on these products increased 39.6%, while volume rose 30.5% and purchase occasions were up 27.7%. The demographic driving this growth were the under-35s, who individually each spent the most per year on cold drinks (£97). 

Over-55s remain the most valuable demographic for food to go, contributing £9.7bn in value sales this year. While the frequency of food-to-go trips dipped 2.9% year on year for this demographic, when they did buy food-to-go products they spent an average of £2.95 - that's 25p more than the average spend per trip in 2017. 

Prices have increased across most food-to-go categories, with snack foods seeing the biggest increases on average (5.1%). These price hikes could be why consumers bought fewer packs when they purchased snacks this year, with volume sales down 0.8%.

Catriona Stewart, Kantar Worldpanel

 

From coffee to pubs: top eight food to go outlets by value
Kantar top eight food to go outlets by value
  £m % change
 Bakery & Sandwich   5445.7 2.4
 Coffee Shop   5427.6 4.9
 Mults (inc. forecourt)   4324.2 5.4
 Total Cafe   2255.7 8.5
 Workplace & Education   1808.9 1.5
Independents   1270.6 6.9
 Quick Service Restaurant   1145.5 5.7
 High Street   942.5 -0.3
     
Source: Kantar Worldpanel, 52 w/e 09 September 2018

Coffee shops make up the second-largest proportion of the food to go market (21.5%) and enjoyed £254.3m in extra sales growth this year.

Hot drinks accounted for 89p of every £1 spent on drinks in coffee shops. But cold coffee and tea were the main drivers of growth, boosted by greater availability and a hot summer. Shoppers over 55 accounted for almost half of spend in this channel, but under-35s significantly increased their spend (up 8.5%) this year. 

Pubs and bars (excluding alcohol sales) are the fastest-growing channel in food to go, up 12.5% in value this year as they begin to offer more than their traditional niche. One example of this is the increase in morning footfall, with hot drinks to go and breakfast deals boosting spend from 9am to 12 noon by 15.9% yoy. 

Pubs and bars also grew through quick meal sales (up 13.8%), targeting consumers' changing needs with menu extensions beyond alcohol and main meals. However, drinks are still the star performer for this channel, with both hot and cold drinks sales up significantly (16.1% and 13% respectively) versus last year. 

The only channel in the top eight to lose value this year was also the only one to drop prices. Despite a 3.3% rise in unit sales the high street, which includes stores such as WH Smith, Boots and B&M Bargains, still lost £2.4m in value. 

Catriona Stewart, Kantar Worldpanel