European foodservice expenditure exceeds pre-Covid levels: +9%.

Spending in the foodservice sector in Europe has significantly returned to pre-Covid levels, increasing by 9% from EUR 309 billion in 2019 to EUR 336 billion today. This figure emerged from the Outlook on the European Foodservice Industry conference, organised by Circana during SIGEP WORLD.

Despite this positive recovery in spending, ‘visits’ (i.e. the number of people accessing foodservice-related businesses, including delivery services) have not yet reached pre-pandemic levels. In particular, while the quick service restaurant sector (fast food and similar) remains stable, restaurants show a slight decline in visits, with a 2.7 per cent decrease in 2024 compared to 2023. This trend is partly influenced by hybrid work, which now involves about 45% of the workforce, compared to 21% in 2019.

Food consumption shows some interesting trends: burgers are the most popular, with an increase in consumption of 6.3% in 2024. Bakery and pastry also continue to grow, with respective increases of 2.3% and 1.7%. In addition, the online ordering market is booming, with spending reaching €37 billion, more than double the €16 billion in 2019.

The data that emerged during the event confirm a fast-growing and evolving sector that is trying to adapt to the new post-pandemic consumer habits.