The consumption of out-of-home (OOH) snacks and non-alcoholic beverages continued to rebound in Q2 2022 globally, according to Kantar's latest OOH Barometer, Worldpanel Division, leading to the combined value of in-home and OOH snack and beverage consumption increasing 7%.

Although this market has recovered to 16.2 billion, it is still below the 17.6 billion recorded before the pandemic in 2019.

The most significant growth in OOH consumption occurred in the UK, an increase of 48% compared to 2021, while the sharpest decline was observed in China (-13%), notes Marketeer, a publication specializing in the field of Marketing.

Although the OOH channel landscape changed naturally during the pandemic, the overall picture now looks very much like it did before the restrictions: 55% of snack and beverage spending comes from Horeca (hotels, restaurants and cafes) and 13% through impulse channels, exactly the same as in 2019.

However, patterns change depending on the country. OOH is highly dependent on the Horeca channel in Europe and we see that bars, cafes and bakeries are still far from catching up, especially in Spain and also in the UK.

In addition, the publication notes, value growth is slower in non-alcoholic beverages, with spending still 10% below the level seen in Q2 2019, in contrast to a 12% increase in at-home consumption.

Soft drinks are heavily dependent on OOH, and this was the category most affected by the confinements, with particularly high sales volume through the Horeca channels.

However, looking at the last quarter, one sees evidence that recovery is underway: soft drinks is the fastest growing category in OOH, with a 35% increase in value, compared to a 15% growth for salty snacks.

The publication, which also cites Kantar's Brand Footprint report, also mentions that six of the ten most consumed brands in OOH are soft drinks, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Fanta, Sprite, Lipton, and 7-Up - with five of them growing over the previous year.