UK foodservice records biggest footfall drop in two years

Customer traffic fell by 2.3% in the first quarter.

Customer traffic across the UK foodservice market fell by 2.3% in Q1 2026, marking the steepest decline since January 2024, as weaker consumer confidence, rising prices and shifting regional demand continued to pressure the sector.

Data from Meaningful Vision showed fast-food traffic declined by 1.2% during the quarter, reversing the 1% growth recorded a year earlier. Casual dining and pub traffic fell even further, down 8%, following a 7% decline during 2025.

The data was compiled by analysing more than 60,000 fast-food, coffee shop and casual dining outlets in the UK.

Fast-food store expansion has slowed sharply, with outlet growth falling from 2.4% in Q1 2025 to 1.1% in Q1 2026. The slower pipeline has removed a key source of traffic uplift that supported market performance the previous year, compounding weaker like-for-like demand across the sector.

More than half of leading fast-food chains are now recording declining traffic, with growth increasingly dependent on format, location and occasion. Chicken and ethnic food remain the strongest-performing segments, with customer traffic up 6.2% and 3.5% respectively in Q1 2026. Pizza continued to contract.

Restaurant prices rose by as much as 8% in February and March, outpacing retail food and beverage inflation, which climbed from 3% to 3.7% over the same period, according to the Office for National Statistics. The gap is expected to continue affecting visit frequency, particularly among price-sensitive consumers.

Regionally, only three areas recorded traffic growth: the South West at 15.9%, Greater London at 4.1% and the South East at 2.7%. The South West's double-digit rise points to domestic travel and staycation behaviour as a supporting factor, with weekend traffic in southern regions outperforming weekday figures. Central London bucked the broader London trend, with traffic down 5.8% and its share of total market traffic falling by 0.8 percentage points — the largest regional share loss in the UK.

Maria Vanifatova, chief executive of Meaningful Vision, said performance in fast-food and casual dining was becoming concerning. "Last year the fast-food sector grew by around 1%, but it has now moved into decline at -1.2%. In part, this can be explained by the pace of new openings, which slowed significantly in 2026. More importantly, like-for-like traffic has weakened further as consumers cut back on discretionary spending."

She added that whilst inflation remained a pressure, the regional picture showed demand was not falling evenly, and that domestic travel and short breaks could provide some support over the summer even as city-centre and commuter-led locations remained under pressure.