The UK foodservice market is experiencing difficulties which are resulting in an uneven performance, with consumer footfall differing sharply between segments in the first half of 2025. While overall fast-food traffic saw a modest gain of 0.8%, this growth was not evenly distributed across the sector.
Data from Meaningful Vision, which tracks over 60,000 UK outlets, reveals which categories are generating new visits, and which are falling behind. Quick-service chicken restaurants were the clear winners, with footfall up a strong 4.1% compared to the same period last year. Quick-service coffee outlets also performed well, posting 3.9% growth of visits driven by consumer demand for convenient and affordable indulgences. Rounding out the growth categories, bakery and sandwich shops added 2.4%, reversing some of the declines seen in 2024.
Meanwhile, other segments faced significant pressure. Ethnic fast-food formats remained flat, while the burger category slipped into negative territory with a 3.1% decline in visits. This downturn is largely driven by intensifying price competition and overlapping rivalry among fast-food players, all competing for the same pool of consumers.
The footfall dynamic also shifted throughout the first six months of the year. While overall traffic was slightly stronger than in H1 2024, the second quarter showed a welcome lift with robust growth in April and May. However, June brought the weakest year-on-year figures seen since early 2025, suggesting a slowdown in momentum. This trend is also reflected in the overall like-for-like guest numbers, which are still declining even in the fast-food sector, as traffic growth has been outpaced by new store openings.
Meaningful Vision CEO Maria Vanifatova notes that this reflects a broader pattern in the industry. “We are seeing a split in the market,” she explains. The fast-food market is still largely driven by new openings. However, since guest numbers are not increasing on a like-for-like basis, simply expanding the number of outlets is a limited growth strategy in a market where demand is struggling”. This highlights a key challenge for operators: new stores are often cannibalizing traffic from existing locations rather than creating new demand.
Read more on the trends and challenges in the UK Foodservice Industry in our article UK Fast – Food 2025: Economic Pressures Drive Emergent Trends.