We need to bring into this discussion a consideration of the amount of food that the money spent by consumers actually buys from suppliers. In simple terms, the retailer's margin is about 30% and the foodservice operator's margin is about 70%. Clearly, the money spent by a customer in a shop buys more food from a supplier than same amount of money spent by the same consumer in a restaurant or pub for example.

If we apply these percentages to the amount that consumers spend, we can see the amount that foodservice operators and retailers actually spend on food ie their purchases from suppliers.

How much do operators spend on food?

Note: The graph shows total food expenditure (not per capita spend) and is therefore not directly comparable with the previous graph because the total population has grown over the period. The increase shown in this graph is solely due to population growth.

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