Eventrend – there is a psychological limit to domestic hospitality spending – research and analysis

Here are the most important findings of the first part of the research in brief:

1. Young men are at the top of the gastronomic life! The most enthusiastic visitors to restaurants are graduates, men aged 18-29, with above-average incomes, who not only like to eat, but also seek experiences.

2. Celebrations and friendship: what drives us to restaurants? According to the research, most people visit restaurants for personal celebrations (36%) and meetings with friends (35%). However, the convenience of cooking at home attracts only 14 percent of guests.

3. The time of “grated cheese” is slowly coming to an end. “Free” food is now important for every seventh visitor. Creativity and health awareness in restaurants are increasingly gaining ground. Fried cheese is always a hit, there’s nothing wrong with it. It just doesn’t provide a solution to a wide range of needs.

4. What do guests base their decisions on? Recommendations from friends are the most convincing argument (61 points), while the reputation of restaurants is less so, and the opinions of restaurant experts are only a guide for a small minority, the vast majority do not make decisions based on such opinions.

5. How much is that? On average, Hungarians consider 8,500 forints acceptable for a restaurant meal, but Budapesters and adventure seekers exceed this. All in all, the average acceptable spending per person per month in restaurants is 23,240 forints.

6. “Who decides?” – or rather, the men’s voice is decisive… Although in the majority of households, women are the organizers, they decide on vacations and relaxation, where and for how long, the choice of restaurant is still more in the hands of men. However, the family council surpasses everything, 81 percent decide together on the catering unit to be selected.

7. The trio of catering establishments:

Casual guests (51%) rarely choose in an ad hoc manner.

Food-oriented people (30%) go more often, but are less attached to their favorite places.

Experience seekers (19%) are the real gastro-adventurers who are willing to spend more for an exclusive experience.

8. Why don’t we work in cafes? The surprisingly low popularity of the “home office” category (2%) suggests that the atmosphere of domestic catering establishments is not yet ideal for workplace productivity.

9. “We find it expensive, but we can handle the pace!” – this is how guests see Hungarian prices. Almost half of those surveyed (45%) believe that the prices of domestic restaurants are still acceptable, but almost the same number (42%) believe that everything is simply overpriced. There were also some “luxury consumers” who claimed that it is still cheaper to go to a restaurant in Hungary than in Western Europe – all of them made this statement with a thicker wallet in their pockets.