Despite the subdued consumer climate in Germany, retail catering continues to grow. According to the latest EHI survey, retailers increased their catering sales by an average of 6.1 percent in 2024. Total sales thus reached a record level of €12.41 billion (2023: €11.70 billion). Based on retailer data, the EHI forecasts a further increase in sales of 4.1 per cent for the current year. This would correspond to gross sales of around €12.92 billion.
‘With an average of more than eight percent, food service in food retail was the strongest growth sector across all industries last year,’ explains Olaf Hohmann, Head of Retail Food Service Research at EHI. Looking ahead, the retailers surveyed identified lunch, breakfast, snacks and to-go convenience as the strongest growth drivers.
Price-performance ratio as a success factor
A decisive factor for continued growth is subdued consumer spending. ‘Trading down,’ i.e., the conscious shift toward lower-priced offerings, plays a central role here. Especially in economically challenging times, consumers are looking for ways to reduce their spending.
Retail catering offers attractive alternatives here: price differences of up to 82 percent for popular main courses and snacks compared to the rest of the out-of-home market make them particularly competitive. At the same time, the range is increasingly impressing with its quality. With fresh ingredients and modern preparation concepts, it is now on a par with classic catering formats.
Focus on young target groups
At the same time, retail caterers need to tap into new and younger target groups. Currently, almost two-thirds of sales are generated by the over-45 age group. Retailers are responding to this with trend-oriented dishes, digital ordering options and adapted price and discount models for young people, such as students and schoolchildren. The aim is to make the catering offering more attractive to these target groups and to retain them in the long term.
The results are available here free of charge. https://www.handelsgastronomie.de/handelsgastronomie/
Definition
Retail catering is the continuous provision of catering services, beverages and ready-to-eat meals that are directly or conceptually related to retail activities.
Data source: An online survey was conducted between March and April 2025 for the EHI survey. Thirty-four retailers with a total of 11,336 stores took part.
