Pubs are making strong inroads into the territory occupied by full-service licensed restaurants, according to a new report into the pub catering market by Mintel.

It predicts that the £6b pub catering market will continue to expand over the next five years – and that the possible ban on smoking could help fuel this drive by attracting more non-smokers to eat in pubs.

According to Mintel, the average pub makes more than 25% of its turnover from meals as the number of pub diners has overtaken pub drinkers.

Pubs are becoming more like restaurants as they replace bar meals and self-service menus with table service, which now accounts for 38% of the pub catering market compared with 32% in 1999.

Mintel found that the appeal of pub grub is spread widely across the population, but it identified a core market of seven million adults who would rather go to a traditional pub than a chain pub.

They felt that only traditional pubs could offer real British food, gave bigger portions than restaurants and offered a wide menu choice.
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Although Mintel found that leading branded pubs were also serving more traditional British food than before, it also noted a growing trend to restore individuality to pubs both among smaller pub companies and some large ones, such as the Spirit Group.

by Angela Frewin