• A survey conducted by CSA Research and promoted by Fiera Milano and HostMilano plans to interview 8,000 respondents in 7 countries and territories on out-of-home habits
• The research outlined a rapidly changing industry, where operators should combine food quality with design, technology and experientiality   
• Consumers are increasingly aware and looking for an engaging experience, but also impulsive and in search for reassurance
• Moreover, a strong need emerges to experience eating out as a moment of communication and sharing with others: out of the total global sample, more than a third (37%) eat out mainly for leisure and almost half (45.1%) spend more than an hour at the table

Milan-Dubai, 6 November 2024 – The international experience of ‘eating out’ is changing rapidly. In some cases, even faster than innovation itself, making the adoption of new formats and technologies increasingly essential to the success of an out-of-home business.

These are the main findings from the preview of a research Eating Out. A Global Survey on Attitudes and Behaviors, conducted by CSA Research and promoted by Fiera Milano and HostMilano, the world’s leading event for innovation in hospitality, out-of-home and retail. The survey involved a sample of 8,000 respondents from Italy, the Middle East, Spain, France, Germany, the UK and the US, exploring current and future trends.

The results outline an increasingly diverse, changing and multifaceted experience, characterised by a surge in experientiality driven by new consumer opportunities. Supply and demand are developing together, in new customer-centric formats revolving around a consumer who is increasingly aware and looking for an engaging experience, but also more impulsive and seeking greater reassurance. Eating out is also seen as an opportunity to interact with others and there is a strong need to communicate across the board.

In response, operators focus on hyper-localization (e.g. with local ingredients), scalable formats, immersive layouts and innovative technologies.

Italy vs GCC: a comparison between two worlds

Elements of particular interest emerge in the preview, that presents a focus on GCC countries, from the comparison between Italy, a country that combines innovation with a deep-rooted food and wine tradition, and the two main GCC markets, an area distinguished by its focus on more contemporary developments.

Interestingly, when choosing a venue, Italians are guided more by the menu (27.7 percent) and the taste of the ingredients (27.3 percent), while attention to service stands out in the UAE (18.8 percent) and, especially, in Saudi Arabia (22 percent).

A shared priority is the preference for local and seasonal products, emphasized by 73.6 percent of Italians, 73.2 percent of Emiratis, and 69.3 percent of Saudis. On the other hand, innovative processing techniques, such as molecular cooking and low-temperature or vacuum cooking, carry much more weight in the GCC countries: they are judged important by 57.6 percent in the UAE and 61.7 percent in Saudi Arabia, while in Italy, reflecting the strong influence of tradition, they are so for only 24.5 percent.

Personal relationship vs. trust in certifications

Consistent with this finding, sustainability also seems to carry more weight in the Gulf countries: it is an important factor of choice for 66 percent of respondents in the Emirates and 61.3 percent in Saudi Arabia, compared to 37.4 percent in Italy. As a result, holding a certification is relevant to as many as 82.7 percent of Saudis and 75.6 percent of Emiratis, but only to 38.3 percent of Italians.

This finding is probably related to the fact that Italians eat much more often in independent, often family-owned restaurants (86.5 percent) than in chains (13.5 percent). As a result, they place more importance on the personal relationship with the restaurateur than on standards in order to feel reassured about quality. In particular, Italians most often choose pizzerias (28.4 percent), bars and diners (20 percent), and home-style restaurants (16.7 percent) to eat out.

By contrast, attendance of the two types is more balanced in GCC countries: it is divided between independents at 64.4 percent and chains at 35.6 percent in the UAE, and between a 57 percent independent and 43 percent chain in Saudi Arabia. In detail, Emiratis prefer to eat in, in order, in fast-food restaurants (18.4 percent), home-style restaurants (16.7 percent) and pizzerias (16.4 percent), while Saudis opt for fast-food restaurants (26 percent), pizzerias (20 percent) and home-style restaurants (13.7 percent). Therefore, there’s a higher share of venues with standardized processes that are more prone to the need for certifications to ensure quality.

Eating out to communicate and share

Beyond cooking styles and venue formats, a cross-cutting factor seems to be seeing the out-of-home as an opportunity to be with others and communicate across the board. More than one-third (37 percent) of the total global sample eat out primarily for leisure and nearly half (45.1 percent) spend more than an hour at the table.

The comparison between Italy and the GCC is significant in this area as well. In fact, while it is very important for Italians to eat out with friends too (24.2% in Italy versus 4.4% in the Emirates and 5.3% in Saudi Arabia), this is mostly experienced with family in the Gulf countries (42% in Saudi Arabia and 32.8% in the UAE), though eating out with family remains important for Italians as well (31.7%).

Tomorrow’s venues thus seem to be increasingly shaping themselves as true content providers, carefully designed to combine quality food with design, technology and multi-sensoriality, to embrace the customer in an immersive relational experience in line with their lifestyle.

At Host 2025, the innovations the future of hospitality holds will be previewed not only along the exhibition layout, but also in a rich schedule of educational moments, events and competitions.

The 44^th edition will be held at fieramilano – Rho from 17 to 21 October 2025.