As 2023 is drawing to a close, it’s time to reflect on what happened in the world of hospitality over the past 12 months, and what’s coming in the future. While staffing, energy and food costs have been a major factor of the past year, there are more positive trends on the road ahead.
Here are our top restaurant trends for 2024:
Data to drive growth
Using data to drive growth is something that is front of mind for many Lightspeed customers.
“We're a very data-driven business, and it’s really powerful to have data at your fingertips.” said Ashley Slinger, Senior Finance Manager at The Other House.
“We could be sitting in a meeting with an executive and they might ask, ‘how are our cocktails selling?’ and within seconds we can pull the data, see how many cocktails we’ve sold, see the top sellers and see the gross profit. That data allows us to make strategic decisions to move the business forward.” explained Ashley.
Enter Lightspeed Advanced Insights, a product that turns data into actionable steps that lets hospitality owners grow revenue, and make smarter business decisions.
Hybrid hotels
With the freedom of remote working comes the desire for accommodation that offers apartment-style living with hotel services. Hotelier Naomi Heaton spotted a gap in the market for this new type of accommodation, and opened the first Other House in London in July 2022, with two more locations planned for the coming years–one in Covent Garden and one in Belgravia.
These innovative spaces are designed to cater to both business and leisure guests–as well as locals visiting for the day–creating a social, community-driven environment.
Hybrid hotels adapt to meet the evolving needs of travellers by offering unique experiences, all under one roof, and we predict their popularity will only grow stronger.
Hyper-local sourcing of ingredients
Sourcing ingredients closer to home is a trend that’s only going to become more important as consumers are increasingly aware of the environmental impact their food has. In a recent research study conducted by Lightspeed in November 2023*, it was revealed that over 70% of diners surveyed consider themselves environmentally conscious. This heightened awareness is driving a change in consumer behaviour, with 36% of Britons actively seeking restaurants that have robust sustainability initiatives in place.
Ingredients were a key focus for many diners with 62% of diners wanting to see better food waste reduction efforts. Locally sourced ingredients (61%) and reduced plastics (53%) were also important to UK diners.
Lightspeed customer Osip is a tiny, farm-to-table restaurant located in the heart of rural Somerset.
Many of the ingredients used are grown on Osip’s vegetable farm, from yellow courgettes to spicy nasturtium leaf. For this reason, Osip doesn’t print menus as the dishes change daily depending on what produce is available that day. Ingredients they don’t grow themselves are sourced from local producers including Westcombe Dairy and Stream Farm.
