Over 50s driving lunch trade with over one billion visits a year
Over 50s will represent a significant growth market for foodservice businesses, according to new research, with spend for the year to June reaching £6b.
According to the NPD Group there were one billion lunch visits by the over 50 age group in the period, with visits up 6% compared with 2008 and spend up 12%
NPD predicted that older people would also contribute significantly to the growth of food delivery and could be a catalyst for a widening of menu choice better suited to their dietary needs.
The overall market for lunch was up 3% for the year to June 2017, with over four billion visits. Lunch to go saw 4% growth, with NPD predicting that it would reach 2.2 billion visits by by 2019 and account for 53% of lunch visits.
It believes that, even with modest wage growth in the economy, lunch will remain popular because it is affordable.
NPD Group foodservice director Cyril Lavenant said: "The over-50s demographic in Britain will grow in size and become wealthier, more active and more experimental than previous generations. For anybody running a business in Britain's £54b foodservice industry, there's a distinct ‘over-50s opportunity'.
People in late middle age and older will respond well to the innovative approach we see on Britain's high streets to lunchtime eating. The over-50s represent an excellent target for the foodservice industry and will definitely play a bigger role in the growing popularity of eating lunch out of home."
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