UK restaurant and café prices have more than doubled since 2000, rising from a CPI of 62 to 153 by December 2025. Despite this, the market remains resilient. In 2025, 90% of Britons still eat in restaurants and 84% order takeaway, showing strong consumer attachment even amid persistent price inflation.
Rising costs are reshaping perceptions of value for both operators and customers. To justify spend, operators increasingly deploy loyalty apps, set menus, and meal deals: 54% of eat-in or takeaway diners used a meal deal, and 43% of restaurant diners chose set menus in 2025. These approaches reflect a broader shift toward value-driven, price-conscious occasions.
The most significant growth opportunity lies with younger, multi-daypart diners, whose frequent visits span formats,such as kiosks and food halls. This extends brand reach to new dayparts, including breakfast, and new locations, such as travel hubs. At the same time, operators face ongoing cost-of-living and labour inflation pressures, which squeeze margins and risk eroding real spend per visit. Success will depend on balancing value-led innovation with disciplined cost management to sustain growth in a changing market.
This Report Looks at the Following Areas:
- Analysis of market performance: inflation’s long-tail effect on menu pricing, value perception and trading-down behaviour
- Segment performance outlook: all UK foodservice segments are growing, just at different paces
- Generational demand shifts: younger consumers’ habit of eating at various times throughout the day is driving diversification in food formats, while their engagement with incentives like app-based rewards helps build long-term loyalty
- Choice drivers, value and innovation strategies: GLP-1 use, portion control and demand for lighter, functional food & drink are shaping menu design
Market Definitions
This Report focuses on the UK foodservice market, specifically exploring various types of eateries within full-service restaurants, limited-service restaurants (including QSR eg coffee shops, fast food outlets and takeaways), pubs and bars, contract caterers and nightclubs.
Mintel has revised its market size to provide a more complete picture of the overall health of the UK foodservice market for this year’s Report. The revision was conducted using a combination of improved methodology and resources, including the analysis of ONS consumer spending data and business activity data in addition to trade interviews, analysis of business results and Mintel consumer research findings. This allowed for a more comprehensive assessment of the size of the UK foodservice market, including the value of food and drink sales from events and catering – segments that were previously excluded.
Excluded:
- Ready-to-eat supermarket and convenience store food: pre-prepared meals sold in these retailers are not included.
- Vending machines: foods and drinks dispensed from machines are outside the scope of this report.