The value of the Irish hospitality and foodservice market has reached over €10 billion for the first time, according to Bord Bia’s annual Foodservice Market Insights Report, which was published today.
It found the total industry turnover figure is €10.4 billion across both the Republic and Northern Ireland.
This is the highest level seen within the sector to date, but it is mostly driven by inflation with menu prices up 26% since 2020.
However, it found there are some pockets of growth in certain areas that have increased footfall as well.
“Food service, out-of-home hospitality, it’s a very wide market and it includes everything from your cup of coffee you might pick up on the way to work or your sandwich at lunchtime,” Food Service Manager Maureen Gahan said.
“What we refer to as limited service restaurants, they are also everyday food service occasions, they account for about 40% of market and they’ve seen strong growth,” she said.
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“The other area we’re seeing strong growth is the whole area of leisure and events, if you think about all of the sellout music and sporting events we had this year and that are also going into 2026, a lot of food service consumed at those as well,” she added.
One other area where Bord Bia is seeing growth is in the non-commercial or non-high street business.
“There’s been an exponential growth in the hot school meals programme and also with the return to office mandate we’re seeing business and industry, workplace feeders starting to continue to grow,” she explained.
“It’s not quite where it was pre-Covid, but it is growing year on year,” she said.
Bord Bia’s annual foodservice market insights report shows total industry turnover figure is €10.4 billion across both the Republic and Northern Ireland.
The report also highlights an urban-rural divide with rural businesses facing higher closure rates and slower recovery.
It found Dublin is becoming more of a hub for overseas visitors to base themselves from, and then travelling out to visit regional attractions.
Ms Gahan said the challenge there is that rural businesses do not get the knock on spend in restaurants or hotels, adding that it is somewhat of a concern.
“Cities in general are holding up well, but some of the rural spots are struggling,” she said.