The report cites the sector’s keen pricing, effective marketing and broad appeal as the reasons for its dominance of the market.
Managed pub restaurants now hold a 22% share of the UK’s popular eating out market including pubs, restaurants and quickservice outlets, up from 18% in 2008. Horizons expects this to rise to 26% by 2016 and predicts that food will account for 50% of managed pub sales by 2023.
The pub restaurant sector consists of almost 17,000 pubs and has combined food and associated drinks sales worth £4.8bn in 2012 - 39% of total sales. Leading operators include Mitchells & Butlers, JD Wetherspoon, Whitbread and Marston’s.
Breakfast has helped the sector’s trade and now accounts for 6% of all managed pub meals with sales now worth £280m a year. Midday sales have also grown rising from £855m in 2006 to almost £1,5bn in 2012.
"Consumers are choosing to eat in pub restaurants over other types of restaurant and this trend is likely to continue over the next few years," said Horizons’ managing director Peter Backman. "Managed pubs are doing a brilliant job at appealing to today’s consumer by being flexible in their offer and price sensitive
"In June 2011 our own QuickBite survey of 2,000 consumers showed that pub restaurants accounted for 17% of all meals eaten out. By December 2012 this had risen to 20%. Managed pubs are certainly getting something right in terms of their food, which is successfully filling the gap left by retreating alcohol sales."