Consumer appetite for hospitality persists amid cost of living crisis

New research has revealed that while household bills have been rising for months, consumer demand for British pubs, bars and restaurants has remained resilient.

"Consumer confidence may be fragile, but our Cost of Living Pulse makes it clear that people remain as eager as ever to eat and drink out," - Charlie Mitchell

According to the monthly CGA Cost of Living Pulse research, in April 2023 two out of five (40%) consumers would be eating and drinking at least once a week.

This is the same year-on-year figure as March and down only 2 per cent on October 2022.

More than nine in ten consumers (94 per cent) took to the streets at least once in April, up one percentage point on March and two points on six months earlier.

As a further sign of stability, nearly one quarter of consumers (24 per cent) said they had gone out more often than usual in April - just one per cent less than six months ago.

While 43% say consumers are going out less often than usual, that figure remains unchanged compared with October 2022.