The Out of Home Environment in Scotland (2021)

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Summary

This report provides an overview of the out of home (OOH) environment in Scotland during 2021. Kantar data was used to draw comparisons with data for 2020 and 2019 to allow us to explore our eating behaviours in 2021.

The key findings of the report include:

General impact

  • In 2021, the OOH market in Scotland increased in value compared with 2020; the average number of consumer trips per week also increased. However these were still lower compared to 2019.
  • The average number of trips consumers made OOH in 2021 was 2.9 per person per week, an 11% increase compared to 2020 and a 30% decrease compared to 2019.

Which consumers were impacted?

  • In 2021, those aged 35-54 experienced the largest reduction in average number of trips OOH, whilst those aged 55 and over had the smallest reduction compared to 2019.
  • Consumers from social class C2DE visited OOH more frequently than consumers from social class ABC1.

Where did consumers visit and what did they eat?

  • Quick service resturants were the only channel to see growth in 2021 versus 2019, likely due to their ability to pivot to delivery and takeaway during the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. 
  • All food and drink categories experienced a reduction in the number of trips where these were purchased in 2021 compared to 2019. Savoury snacks were the most impacted while main meals the least impacted.
  • The top ten food categories purchased most frequently remained fairly consistent over the three years, with coffee being purchased the most followed by sandwiches.

Takeaway and delivery

  • The takeaway and delivery market has seen strong growth over the pandemic years in Scotland, with an increase in value of over 88% in 2021 compared to 2019, with a value of £1.5 billion.
  • In 2021, food technology such as restaurant web apps (e.g. McDonald’s and Domino’s) and aggregators (e.g. Just Eat or Deliveroo) played a key role in the growth of delivery, with an increase of 24.9 million trips using these methods since 2019.

Promotions

  • In 2021, 50 million OOH trips featured a promotion, which was 3.5 million less than in 2019.

FSS will use the data from this report to develop policy actions for the OOH environment, to work towards ensuring that the Scottish population have diets conducive to good health.