Delivery and takeaway sales flat as sun tempts diners out

Delivery and takeaway sales at Britain’s leading restaurant groups slipped by 0.6% year-on-year in April, according to CGA by NIQ’s latest Hospitality at Home Tracker.

It is the tracker’s second negative number of 2025 and the fifth consecutive month of below-inflation growth. The research firm pointed to trading being subdued by good weather and the long Easter weekend, which led some consumers to drink out rather than ordering food for delivery or takeaway. Other outdoor activities and home barbecues may also have eaten into consumers’ spending.

The marginal decline is in line with the separate CGA RSM Hospitality Business Tracker, which recorded a year-on-year drop of 0.9% in managed restaurant groups’ total sales in April, but 9.1% growth for pubs.

The Hospitality at Home Tracker shows slightly better trading for deliveries than takeaways in April. Delivery revenue was exactly level year-on-year, while sales from takeaways and click-and-collect orders fell 1.9% on a like-for-like basis. Total combined sales were 10.0% ahead of April 2024, reflecting a sharp increase in venues providing deliveries and takeaways in the last 12 months.

Karl Chessell, CGA by NIQ’s director – hospitality operators and food, EMEA said: “Warm weather is usually better news for pubs than restaurants, and it’s clear that drinking-out was the priority in April. Disposable incomes remain limited for many consumers, and with various other options for their money, a softening in delivery and takeaway sales isn’t surprising.

“While sales have now been flat or below inflation for five months, it’s important to note that this follows a period of significant growth in the channel. Operators will be hoping that momentum returns over the summer as habits settle and demand picks up again.”

After seeing record trading levels during the pandemic, the delivery sector has been navigating choppier waters of late. Just Eat was acquired by investment group Prosus earlier this year in a €4.1b (£3.4b) deal, following delisting from the London Stock Exchange “in order to reduce the administrative burden, complexity and costs” borne by the business.

In November 2024, it agreed to sell Grubhub for an enterprise value of $650m (£510m), less than a tenth of the price it paid to acquire the brand in 2021.

Photo: Rowan Freeman/Unsplash