The out of home (OOH) eating market is under threat from rising competition from supermarket takeaway meals, according to TNS analyst Ed Garner.
Talking to delegates at the British Leafy Salads Association conference in Peterborough last week, he said it was common to find the OOH market being constrained by the supermarket, as the lines between the two become blurred.
“If you look at shoppers in Tesco Metro or Sainsbury’s Local they’re very much buying take away meals to eat at home - if you are in foodservice, funnily enough your biggest competitor is the supermarket,” he said.
He told delegates that trends in foodservice are changing, and the drive towards healthier foods is filtering through into the catering sector, which is good news for suppliers of cut salads.
“People are giving up on the dessert a bit and saying no thanks to the death by chocolate. So we’re seeing a growth of outlets that are going to be more favourable to salads. We’ve got sandwich bars, bakeries the growth of EAT, Pret a Manger, and salad bars are one of the fastest-growing service types of food areas…even dear old McDonalds worldwide is talking about salads.
“So you’re getting trends in foodservice which mirror those which we see in the retail market as a whole,” he said.
