Food to go evolution: learnings from Sydney and Melbourne

We've recently spent time assessing the evolution of food-to-go across key channels in Australia, focusing this time on Sydney and Melbourne. A founding principle for us is that spending time understanding the dynamics of and operators in other markets helps inform and shape better propositions in your home market, and our visit to Australia delivered this in abundance, delivering a raft of learnings we see as relevant across Europe.

While there were learnings across a broad selection of areas including food-to-go in conveneince, healthier eating concepts and differentiated QSRs, perhaps our key overall take out for European food-to-go markets was the inspiration we took around opportunities for Asian cuisines and concepts to play a bigger role in food-to-go across Europe.

Here are our topline findings:

1. There are some world class food-to-go concepts to learn from

Australia’s food-to-go market impressed. We visited many great concepts, a handful of which we've captured in the images below. Outstanding coffee concepts may be perhaps the international headliners, but beneath that there are a wealth of impressive food focused concepts that demand closer attention if you're looking at future food-to-go opportunities.

Established players such as Guzman y Gomez, Fishbowl and Zambrero have scaled domestically and are increasingly looking internationally for their development. Alongside them, brands like Soul Origin and Liv Eat highlight the strength of the better-for-you segment, now with significant national presence.

One definite standout for us, and, judging by the queues, for many others, is Lune Croissanterie—a concept built on precision, quality and a clear point of difference. Founded by a former Formula 1 engineer, it applies a high level of craft and consistency to create a destination experience.

But the key point we took here was around the breadth of strong concepts, across drinks as well as food, and the high quality presentation that was typically delivered.

2. Lots can be learned from how Asian food is integrated into wider cuisines

It's not an exaggeration to say the visit redefined our understanding of what sushi can deliver. The breadth of product offer and format, outstanding presentation and quality on offer— across independents as well as chains like Get Sashimi, Sushi Hero and Maki Roll— stand out.

Meanwhile, a sector that barely exists across much of Europe, Asian-led bakery, is widespread, including the likes of Breadtop and Doughkyo.

3. A growing role for better food-to-go on the roadside and in convenience

Convenience and roadside food-to-go in Australia is evolving quickly—and in some cases, already delivering standout execution. The time we spent with 7-Eleven highlighted how its strengths extend well beyond coffee and smoothies - and its solid core proposition is being enhanced through new formats and ranges.

The development of its Japanese icons range stood out to us. Asian food, particularly Japanese and Korean, feels like it's very much in a moment across many markets. So bringing a good quality, appetising and enticing offer into a convenience store environment strikes us as a great opportunity to take this forward.

We were also impressed by the new look Ampol Foodary format, which we visited outside Sydney at Eastern Creek (Westbound).There's considerable ambition in this format to stretch perceptions around what a motorway services can deliver - the prominence of matcha and salad options was a key differentiator from most roadside locations we've visited. Both were delivered through Ampol's collaboration with the impressive food-to-go chain Soul Origin, with Eastern Creek the inaugural site. More broadly however the services worked well in meeting a range of different customer groups and missions, with mainstream QSR offerings serviced well by Hungry Jacks and Oporto, and the Boost juice bar as well as the core Ampol Foodary shop also impressing.

4. Hot food-to-go in retail could be on the cusp...

Hot food-to-go in retail feels like it is at a pivotal moment in Australia. Across conversations and store visits, there was a consistent sense that the category is on the verge of a step-change in both quality and relevance.

The opportunity is clear—but within this is a clear challenge. Success will depend on more than just improving the product. Retailers need to:

• Clearly define the proposition

• Bring customers on the journey

• Create trial through visibility and trust

• Drive repeat through consistency and satisfaction - and think about the role of NPD. This daily operational excellence is the bedrock of so many successful food-to-go concepts.

Get this right, and hot food could fundamentally reshape how convenience and supermarket food-to-go is perceived. Get it wrong, and it risks remaining a functional, low-engagement mission.

5. For supermarkets it’s a longer term build in food-to-go

The leading supermarket retailers in Australia clearly have significant ambitions in food-to-go—but today, the key task strikes us as bringing customers on the journey and consistently showing credentials in this area.

While we saw some strong executions here, they were typically the exceptions rather than the rule. A fairly standardised basic offer filled the shelves of many - and, as a result. often therefore competing in a different segment to the numerous food-to-go specialists.

The direction of travel is positive—but building a truly compelling, destination-led food-to-go offer will require sustained focus and clear positioning. We also believe looking at a range of global benchmarks for inspiration, and take learnings not just from their front end propositions but also their back end operations to make it work in a high cost labour market like Australia.

In our view, learnings from execution in markets such as the UK, Ireland, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands could definitely contribute to a longer term framework for success in this arena.

Find out more - want to explore how we can support your growth, insights programme and strategy?

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