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Study: Pizza weathering the UK recession

May 3, 2012

Recession-weary Brits continue to spend their tightened budgets on pizza, despite cutting down overall on away-from-home meals, according to new research conducted by YouGov and commissioned by VoucherCodes.co.uk

The research suggests that nearly two thirds (61 percent) of consumers have reduced the amount of money they spend when eating out over the last 12 months. However, the pizza segment remains more popular than ever.

Consumers have been searching for restaurant vouchers online to satisfy their pizza cravings. Analysis from VoucherCodes.co.uk reveals that pizza vouchers are amongst the most popular offers on the site, with one downloaded every five seconds by UK consumers. This figure represents a 251-percent increase from three years ago.

In the past 12 months, the site has seen more than 6 million pizza and Italian restaurant vouchers downloaded. This equates to UK residents downloading:

• 500,000 pizza vouchers a month;
• 16,400 pizza vouchers a day; and
• One pizza voucher every 5 seconds

Leading chains in the UK are experiencing a boost in sales despite the challenging economic climate throughout Europe. During their earnings calls earlier this week, both Domino's Pizza and Papa John's recognized the health of their systems in Europe, despite high unemployment levels and uncertain markets.

"Pizza vouchers were one of the original money-off deals and are still hugely popular today, with millions using them to make their money go further. Italian food is quick, accessible and relatively cheap so it's no surprise to see it growing in popularity at a time when consumer finances are severely stretched. It's great to see so many people defying the downturn," said Duncan Jennings, co-founder of VoucherCodes.co.uk.

YouGov surveyed 2,054 adults during a two day period in January.

Read more about trends and statistics.