Fast-casual dining drives China foodservice growth

The fast-casual dining sector helped make China the world’s star market for the consumer foodservice sector, according to new industry data released by global market research company Euromonitor International.

Its research shows that consumer foodservice sales grew 5.7 per cent globally last year, improving on last year’s growth rate of 5.3 per cent. This was led by the fast casual-dining segment, with 10.4 per cent growth, increasing by US$3.4 billion for the year.

Asian cuisine restaurants followed fast casual dining with 9.3 per cent growth.

China had consumer foodservice sales totalling $617 billion last year, growing 9.5 per cent from 2014 despite the market’s slowdown.

In China, Israel and South Korea, more than 60 per cent of home-delivery sales were ordered online. Globally, China placed the most fast-food orders online at 26 per cent, compared to the US where such sales were less than 1 per cent.

“Consumers are shifting their dining preferences, especially in developed markets,” says Euromonitor consumer foodservice strategy analyst Elizabeth Friend.

“Coffee shops, for example, saw a high increase in sales last year, which shows that the dining-out culture is continuing to evolve toward more modern, premium, casual and social experiences.

“China was the true growth leader during the year, and we expect it to continue to offer strong growth opportunities ahead, albeit within the context of very high competition,” says Friend.

“Over the forecast period [2015 to 2020], more growth is projected in China than has been seen in the previous five years.”

From 2015 to 2020, China is forecast to achieve $235 billion in new foodservice sales, followed by the US and India with $48.8 billion and $35.7 billion respectively.

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