Young people drive pub food and drink trade across all day parts

The report, based on 1,000 consumers aged over 18 who visit pubs at least once every three months, found that it is people in the 18 to 34 age bracket who are most likely to visit pubs. They were more likely to visit pubs for every dining and drinking occasion with mid-morning, mid-afternoon and late-night snacks particularly dominated by the demographic.

Breakfast in pubs was popular with 40% of 18 to 34s compared to 21% of over-35s; mid-morning snacks attracted 35% and 19%; afternoon snacks attracted 44% and 21%; and late-night snacks were popular with 43% and 16%, respectively. The findings represent an opportunity for operators to cater to this age group with more grazing-led menus.

Quality of the food was rated by 89% of consumers as the most important attribute when deciding which pub to visit, with 84% rating the quality of the beverages on offer and 62% the availability of healthy options.

Half of the respondents said that they would most often choose to visit another pub rather than any other location, against 13% who would visit a fast-food restaurant, 11% who would have stayed at home and 10% who would have visited a casual-dining restaurant.

However, 30% of consumers have "lapsed" in their use of pubs, visiting every two months or less. While 22% were termed heavy users visiting once a week, 22% were moderate users visiting every two to three weeks, 19% were deemed light users, visiting once a month and 7% did not visit at all.

Darren Tristano, executive vice president at Technomic, said: "The largest user segment is lapsed users, suggesting an opportunity to drive visits among customers who are open to visiting pubs but do so infrequently."