Restaurants bounce back to real-terms at-home sales growth in May

Restaurants achieved their best organic growth in delivery and takeaway sales in 18 months in May, the latest NIQ Hospitality at Home Tracker reveals.

The month saw Britain’s leading restaurant groups push at-home revenue 4.0% ahead of May 2025. The figure is just above the country’s current rate of inflation, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index, and follows four successive months of sub-inflation growth. It is the Tracker’s highest figure since November 2024, with the prospect of another boost from the men’s football World Cup in June and July.

The Tracker, powered by CGA intelligence, shows May’s growth was driven by delivery sales, which jumped by 8.9% on a like-for-like basis. Deliveries now account for 14.2 pence in every pound that consumers spend with restaurants—a sharp increase from only 10.9 pence two years ago in May 2024.

The popularity of restaurants’ at-home offers has been accelerated further by the rollout of delivery services across the country. Total delivery sales growth—including from new restaurants, or ones where deliveries have been launched for the first time—reached 16.3% in May.

By contrast, revenue from takeaways and click-and-collect orders tumbled by 7.8% last month. Takeaways have now fallen for 14 straight months as more and more consumers migrate to the ease of direct-to-door deliveries from third-party providers.

Karl Chessell, Director - Hospitality Operators and Food, EMEA at NIQ, said: “After an exceptionally challenging start to 2026 for managed restaurants, real-terms growth for at-home sales in May is very welcome news. Consumers’ spending remains tightly squeezed and eat-in trading has been tracking below inflation for many months now, so deliveries are a vital source of cash. With the World Cup now underway, restaurants can look forward to further growth in June and July as people order in food for games.

“However, some deliveries are likely to have been ordered at the expense of eating-out visits. They also come with a hit to profit margins, which are already under strain from rising costs and taxes. It remains to be seen if current growth is limited to the summer or is a sign of better things to come for restaurants in the rest of 2026.”