Despite the UK’s ongoing cost of living crisis, catering at leisure venues and events remains resilient, with many visitors still choosing to eat and drink on-site. While rising costs have led to reduced visits over the past year, posing a threat to leisure venues catering, on-site dining and drinking remain popular among younger adults and families, holding potential to boost engagement and spend.
One key challenge for leisure venue catering is consumer dissatisfaction with pricing, with 19% of leisure venue/event food or drink buyers dissatisfied to some level. Implementing value-driven strategies that balance affordability with quality and fair pricing is essential for improving satisfaction and unlocking greater spending potential.
16-34 year olds’ interest in adventurous menu options, brand collaborations and convenient ordering solutions presents opportunities to increase spending and service satisfaction. Meanwhile, tapping into social motivations and household dynamics with tailored catering strategies, such as off-peak pricing or partnerships with food or drink brands that play on nostalgia, can help attract older adults – an often-overlooked demographic in leisure venues.
This report looks at the following areas:
- Leisure venue and event visits, including use of on-site catering facilities and opportunities to unlock revenue through group dining experiences
- Most popular food & drinks purchased, including repertoire and spend potential among younger adults, families and over-65s
- Consumer satisfaction with leisure venue catering, including strategies to improve price dissatisfaction
- Leisure venue catering behaviours, including demand for high-quality hot drinks at children’s leisure venues, and opportunities to enhance the food & drink ordering process
Redefine leisure venue catering through enhanced menu options, tech-driven efficiency and tailored group experiences, all while addressing price dissatisfaction.
Yogita Burke, Cross-category Research Analyst
Market Definitions
For the purposes of this Report, Mintel has used the following definitions:
This Report examines the UK market for leisure venue catering. Mintel’s consumer research assesses participation and interest in a selection of popular leisure venues and events, including the cinema, museum/art gallery, music event, historic venue, sporting event, theme park, zoo/wildlife park and competitive socialising.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- Opportunities
- Unlock spend potential with enhanced food & drink options
- Capitalise on social and group dining experiences
- Implement tech-driven ordering solutions
- Market dynamics and outlook
- Rising costs pose a threat to frequency of leisure venue/event visits
- Cinemas are the most popular out-of-home leisure destination
- Graph 1: leisure venues/events visited in the last 12 months, 2025
- What consumers want and why
- Drinks lead the way, but adopting multi-format food & drink strategies will have wide appeal
- Graph 2: food & drink purchases at leisure venues/events in the last 12 months, 2025
- Target high-spenders to boost revenue
- Boost engagement with 16-34s through brand collaboration
- Graph 3: interest in seeing more menu collaborations between leisure venues/events and food & drink brands, by age group, 2025
- Young adults are most likely to use catering facilities at indoor soft play centres
- Innovation and marketing
- Leisure venues and events appeal to convenience-seekers
- Competitive socialising venues provide versatile spaces
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MARKET DYNAMICS
- Market drivers
- Cinemas are the most popular out-of-home leisure destination
- Graph 4: leisure venues/events visited in the last 12 months, 2025
- Food & drink spend opportunities at leisure venues/events
- Graph 5: preference to eat/drink at leisure venues/events over pubs/restaurants, by presence of children, 2025
- Graph 6: preference to eat/drink at leisure venues/events over pubs/restaurants, by age group, 2025
- A third of over-55s have not visited leisure venues/events
- Persistent inflation affects frequency of visits to leisure venues and events
- Graph 7: CPI inflation rate, 2021-25
- Financial struggles keep some people away from leisure venues/events
- Graph 8: haven’t visited any leisure venues/events in the UK in the last 12 months, by financial situation, 2025
- The competitive socialising market is reaching saturation
- Financial wellbeing is steady, but a crisis mindset lingers
- Graph 9: the financial wellbeing index, 2016-25
- Consumer confidence for the year ahead has settled
- Graph 10: the financial confidence index, 2016-25
- Government involvement is key to driving the foodservice and leisure sectors
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WHAT CONSUMERS WANT AND WHY
- Food & drink purchase at leisure venues/events
- Nine in 10 leisure venue/event visitors use catering facilities
- Graph 11: food/drink purchases at leisure venues/events in the last 12 months, 2025
- Freshly prepared food & drink options are the top choices
- Graph 12: food & drink purchases at leisure venues/events in the last 12 months, by type, 2025
- Hot drinks are the most-purchased item among over-65s
- Graph 13: purchased freshly made hot drink at leisure venues/events in the last 12 months, by age group, 2025
- A third of leisure venue/event attendees buy three or four food & drink items
- Graph 14: number of food/drink items purchased at leisure venues/events in the last 12 months, 2025
- Consumer satisfaction with leisure catering facilities
- The majority of consumers are satisfied with leisure venue catering
- Food & drink quality, cleanliness and customer service rank high in consumer satisfaction
- Graph 15: consumer satisfaction across selected factors with catering facilities at leisure venues/events, 2025
- Dissatisfaction with food & drink prices
- Promote food & drink quality to improve price dissatisfaction
- Prioritise pricing to drive spend at catering facilities
- Fair pricing unlocks broader spend potential
- Graph 16: leisure venue/event food & drink purchases, by price satisfaction, 2025
- On the fence with eco-friendly practices
- Monitor eco-friendly practices
- Maintain accessibility
- Catering expenditure at leisure venues
- High average spend signals opportunity to elevate the leisure dining offer
- Graph 17: average spend on food & drink per visit at leisure venues/events in the last 12 months, 2025
- Cinema-goers are high spenders…
- …especially parents of children under 18
- Graph 18: expenditure level at leisure venues/events’ catering facilities, by presence of children, 2025
- Younger adults lead food & drink spend at leisure venues, while older visitors offer growth potential with targeted catering strategies
- Graph 19: expenditure level at leisure venues/events’ catering facilities, by age group, 2025
- Leisure venue dining companions
- Many leisure visitors dine with others, highlighting the importance of group-friendly food and space design
- Graph 20: companionship at leisure venues/events’ catering facilities in the last 12 months, 2025
- Younger generations are more likely than older generations to use leisure venue catering alone
- Create inclusive environments for young solo visitors
- Graph 21: food & drink purchased alone at leisure venues/events in the last 12 months, by venues/events visited, 2025
- Socialising with work colleagues drives spend
- Target work colleagues with interactive dining experiences
- Leisure venue catering behaviours
- Consumers want premium, adventurous food & drink options paired with convenient ordering solutions
- Graph 22: behaviours towards leisure venues/events’ catering facilities, 2025
- Young families show interest in menu collaborations
- Elevate the hot drinks offering at children’s leisure venues
- Boost engagement with 16-34s through brand collaborations
- Graph 23: interest in seeing more menu collaborations between leisure venues/events and food & drink brands, by age group, 2025
- Strike a balance with technology adoption
- Graph 24: interest in using digital ordering kiosks or vending machines to buy food & drink at leisure venues/events, 2025
- Young adults show preference for convenient food & drink purchasing methods
- Embrace technology to enhance the food & drink purchasing process for young adults
- Explore the introduction of hot food vending machines
- Young adults are most likely to use catering facilities at indoor soft play centres
- Indoor soft play centres are emerging as popular dining hotspots for a diverse audience
- Graph 25: purchased food & drink from indoor soft play centres in the last 12 months, by age group, 2025
- Enhance the food & drink offering at indoor soft play centres
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INNOVATION AND MARKETING TRENDS
- Launch activity and innovation
- Leisure venues and events focus on convenience
- Chef-led dining experiences redefine leisure venue catering
- Immersive leisure and dining concepts elevate family attractions
- Sports venues focus on frictionless operations and accessibility
- Blending social sports with hospitality
- Partnerships to expand food & drink offerings
- Blending themed experiences with dining
- Competitive socialising venues provide versatile spaces
- Pubs reopen as entertainment spaces
- Focus on sustainability
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APPENDIX
- Report scope and definitions
- Market definition
- Abbreviations and terms
- Consumer research methodology
- Key Driver Analysis methodology
- Interpretation of Key Driver Analysis results
- Graph 26: overall satisfaction with catering facilities at leisure venues/events – key driver output, June 2025
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