Britain’s appetite for takeaways is succumbing to the rising cost of living.
In a bleak update, Deliveroo said it received 37.7m orders in the third quarter of the year – 4 per cent lower than in the previous three months.
And the takeaway app warned of ‘consumer headwinds’ as well as a normal summer lull.
Although order numbers were up 5 per cent on the same period last year, that was a far cry from the near-60 per cent growth seen 12 months ago.
The update suggested that takeaway firms are feeling the pinch as households rein in spending in the face of the cost of living squeeze.
The Deliveroo update came just days after arch rival Just Eat Takeaway reported an 11pc slump in orders.
Inflation is running at a 40-year high of 10.1 per cent – with food prices up 14.6 per cent and energy bills soaring. Deliveroo founder and chief executive Will Shu (pictured above) warned of ‘ongoing economic uncertainty’.
The business warned that the slowdown in the UK was mirrored elsewhere.
The international arm received 35.1m orders in the third quarter, down 10 per cent on the second quarter and 7 per cent on the third quarter last year.
Despite orders falling, soaring prices pushed up the overall value of orders across the platform by 8 per cent to £1.7billion during the quarter. But Deliveroo warned the squeeze would continue as it cut its forecast for the full-year. It said the value of orders this year will grow at up to 8 per cent, down from an earlier forecast of up to 12 per cent.
Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Sophie Lund-Yates said pricey food deliveries are ‘precisely the sort of luxury’ that customers are cutting back on. And she said they will not see an improvement until the economic outlook brightens.
Despite the slowdown, Deliveroo shares rose 3.5 per cent, or 2.88p, to 84.84p, but they are down by 58 per cent this year.
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