Coffee premises are best place to eat and drink

Chris Taylor

03/08/2011 14:20 PM

The British love of bean-to-cup coffee machines and socialising has made coffee shops the most popular snacking places outside of the home, according to a survey.

Almost a third (32 per cent) of “eating experiences” between April and May this year took place in coffee shops, cafes or sandwich bars, found Taste of the Nation.

Big Hospitality reports that pubs were the second most popular choice (24 per cent) in the survey of 3,000 customers. This was followed by bars (16 per cent) and fast food restaurants (14 per cent). Casual and formal dining falling way behind at seven and four per cent respectively.

Deloitte, the business advisory firm, were tasked by Taste of the Nation to find out how many people still chose to go out and dine - irrespective of the economic climate.

It anticipates that consumers will go out more often than they do currently in six months time, suggesting that there isn’t a direct link to the economy and eating out at all.

On EatOutMagazine.co.uk, Jon Lake, a corporate finance director at Deloitte, explained: “The results of this survey have helped us uncover evidence of what we’ve long suspected - eating and drinking out is much less dependent on overall consumer spending and confidence than it used to be.”

Lake highlighted the “unfailingly optimistic” 18-34 age group, or Generation Y, as being particularly stubborn about changing their eating experiences.

“Whilst the coffee and sandwich shop is the most popular of destinations, currently, the main threat to the pub sector comes from bars, the more modern feel appealing to the tastes of the sociable Generation Y,” he said.