Foodservice gets retail as a competitor

Consumer confidence has never dropped as much as in April 2020, according to figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS). For example, COVID-19 leaves deep scars on consumer behaviour. If confidence drops or the economy deteriorates, consumers will eat out less often and less luxury. This means that if the corona crisis is followed by a long period of other economies and an economic recession, this will put a heavy burden on the foodservice sector. It seems that the 'Convenience' channel will have the least impact.

Retail as an additional competitor

In the 2008 crisis, Retail proved to be the biggest competitor for Foodservice. There was a huge price difference between the two sectors: Dutch supermarkets were among the cheapest in Europe, while our restaurant sector was among the most expensive in Europe. Downtrading was therefore easy for consumers. 

Convenience generations hit hard

It is important for Out of Home providers to realise that before the crisis the younger generations to a large extent lived outside the home. Fast food restaurants and cheap service restaurants were often visited. It is precisely the Millennials and Gen Z that are hardest hit by an economic downturn. 

More than ever before, it is important for this and the retail sector as a whole to realise that the greatest competition in a continuing crisis is not direct competition from rival restaurants, but that the sector as a whole must compete with the convenience offerings of the supermarket. Both supermarkets and specialty stores respond much better to the need for fast grocery shopping. They are therefore much more consciously competing with traditional foodservice players than they were in 2008.

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