DELIVERY
DELIVERING the
goods Here, mealtrak’s, Nick Blake, proposes that cracking the delivery model in food on the go is key to future success. OPPORTUNITY Since the turn of the year, we have finally seen the emergence of a more sustained recovery in food to go. Although sales are still down by a third compared with pre-Covid, they are more than double those of a year ago and on a rising trend, which bodes well for the future. But, the market has changed, and it is the manufacturers and brands which embrace this change and recognise the emerging trends who will succeed, whilst others lose ground. Nowhere is that change more
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profound than in food delivery. We are all aware of the huge surge in the uptake of grocery home delivery during Covid and the fact that higher levels of online shopping are here to stay. What is less evident – yet – is how this will play out in the food on the go arena. In our view, there is little doubt that food to go delivery represents one of, if not the, biggest area of opportunity out there at the moment. With retailers as diverse as Greggs, McDonalds, Aldi and M&S all testing the water, it is only a matter of time
before delivery becomes a major force in food to go. The reason is simple – they are responding to an unmet consumer need! mealtrak data shows that well over two-thirds of food to go buyers find the idea of food to go delivery both at work and at home appealing – with half of these saying it is extremely or very appealing. This potentially represents a big slice of the market, so it is very much a mainstream rather than niche area of opportunity.
