Sales of food and beverages to food service

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Food Industries, Business Statistics
Martin Lundø
+45 51 46 15 12

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Sales of food and beverages to food service 2024

The purpose of the statistics Sales of food and beverages to food service is to provide an overall picture of sales of food and beverages to commercial kitchens, restaurants, institutions, etc. There is a special focus on organic foods, as a supplement to Retail sales of organic foods. The statistics have been compiled annually since 2013 with grant funding from the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries.

Statistical presentation

The statistics are an annual web-based questionnaire survey on wholesalers' sales of food and beverages to the foodservice area - i.e. commercial kitchens, restaurants, institutions, etc. – i.e. companies and institutions where food is served. The questions relate partly to total turnover for foodservice, partly to turnover for organic foodservice, distributed over a limited number of product groups and customer groups. The turnover is calculated in terms of value (DKK million) and quantity (tons).

Statistical processing

Data for the statistics is collected via a questionnaire-based total count of food wholesalers with over 40 million DKK in turnover. Data is validated in connection with the collection in an online form. Data is subsequently checked and corrected after re-contact with the food wholesalers. Data is then summed up for statistics and key figures are calculated.

Relevance

The purpose of the statistics is to provide an overall picture of sales of food and beverages to commercial kitchens, restaurants, institutions, etc. There is a special focus on organic foods, as a supplement to the statistics Retail sales of organic foods. Foodservice has become more important in recent years and a group of industry organizations and companies have wanted comprehensive statistics on the area. The statistics are also included in the formulation and follow-up of objectives for organic food service.

Accuracy and reliability

Since the statistics are a total count of companies with over 40 million in turnover, there is no sampling error. Smaller companies' sales are not known, but based on the total turnover, it is estimated that less than 5 percent of total sales to foodservice are from these companies. More than 95 percent of the companies have answered the survey. For some companies, it is difficult to obtain the figures for the survey. These have provided best estimates instead. The total sales are more certain than sales divided into product or customer groups.

Timeliness and punctuality

The statistics are published 9 months after the end of the reference period. The statistics are usually published without delay in relation to the scheduled date.

Comparability

There are no common guidelines for international statistics on foodservice.

The statistics can be compared to a limited extent with the Retail turnover of organic food. However, this survey measures retail turnover including VAT, in contrast to Sales of food and beverages to foodservice, which measures wholesale turnover excluding VAT.

Accessibility and clarity

The statistics are published in news release from Statistics Nyt fra Danmarks Statistik under the subject Miljø og Energi, Økologi (in Danish only). Statistics Bank publishes figures for Sales of organic goods for foodservice under the subject Environment and Energy, Ecology. See more on the statistics' Subject page.