Expert's forecast: Russian catering by the end of 2022 is waiting for mass liquidation

Experts predict the mass closure of catering enterprises by the autumn of this year. The situation resembles the first lockdown – entrepreneurs found themselves in a waiting mode. Although now most owners are in no hurry to close the business, by the end of 2022 the market may show negative dynamics.

This is reported in the forecast of Vladimir Savelyev, who represents the ecosystem of business products "Contour". Information about the prospects of the catering market, presented by Savelyev, is reported by RIA Novosti.

From January to May 2022, analysts say, the number of cafes and restaurants has grown, albeit slightly. This was facilitated by the lifting of restrictions caused by COVID-19. The market gradually returned to the level observed before the outbreak of the pandemic.

According to another employee of Kontur, Mikhail Dobrovolsky, responsible for automation of small and medium-sized businesses, the number of companies increased by 1%. For the market, this is a minor fluctuation, which makes it difficult to judge trends and dynamics. The processes will become more obvious by the end of the year.

The situation in the food delivery system is also changing.

The number of orders in March 2022 decreased by 12-15% compared to what was observed in February. According to the CloudPayments service, the turnover of companies delivering food to citizens from catering establishments fell by 18%. At the same time, the number of orders decreased by 16%.