Pizza takes the top UK menu spot
Consumer spending growth slows
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Pizza takes the top UK menu spot
Pizza is now the number one dish on UK menus , according to Horizons latest Menu Trends Report , knocking the beefburger off its long held top spot . The growth has been driven by the pub sector where the frequency of pizzas on menus has increased from 38 % to 50 %.
Whilst beef and chicken burgers are still firm favourites both have experienced a marked decrease year on year . Vegetarian burgers have bucked this trend with an increase of 13 % versus last year .
Consumer spending growth slows
Visa ’ s Consumer Spending Index for January shows consumer spending growth slowed to a five month low in January .
Kevin Jenkins , UK & Ireland MD at Visa commented : “ Following a bumper Christmas season , there were signs that consumers were starting to reign in their spending at the start of the New Year . Annual growth slowed down from 2.5 % in December to a five-month low of 0.4 % in January .
“ Face-to-face wasn ’ t all doom and gloom in January though , and winners on the high street did emerge . Brits continued the trend of spending on experiences rather than goods , with a near 6 % spending boost in the Hotels , Restaurants and Bars sector and a 3.1 % lift in recreation and culture spend .”
Josh Beer , The Illustrious Pub Company , Cambridgeshire , said : “ As expected , January was a quieter month for us with turnover down 5 % compared to last year . While our catering orders remained steady , customers who came to dine and drink at our pubs were spending more cautiously . The cold weather and icy driving conditions might have kept quite a few of our regulars at home too , and our figures support this , as our locations with easier pedestrian access were the best performers .”
Quan Nguyen , Chi Café , London , said : “ January was a rather quiet month for us , with sales slowing down from December . We had fewer customers through the door , and on average people seemed to spend less too . We thought this might be due to people cutting back on spending following an indulgent December , but there might be other factors at play . At the same time , we began to feel the squeeze as our main suppliers had all increased their prices .”