Positive outlook for the restaurant industry
The forecast for growth in out-of-home consumption in Spain is expected to reach 2.3%, along with a 0.1% increase in visits during the coming months of 2025.
The restaurant industry is undergoing a beverage revolution, with a sharp and significant drop of 4.2 points in alcohol consumption among younger generations and 1.8 points among older generations.
- New consumption models: key to ensuring the success of catering
- Holistic sustainability and energy efficiency
- Madrid, the engine of economic and social development
- Star format, ‘CEO vs CEO’
- Joint work: public-private collaboration
With this good news, the second edition of ‘Marcas de Restauración, con M de Madrid’ kicked off, bringing together more than 200 top experts from the sector, institutional representatives and business leaders in an iconic venue provided by the Las Rozas City Council, hub232 in El Cantizal. This second debate forum analysed how brands contribute to urban development and the balance between tradition and innovation, together with the impact of organised catering on the economy, employment, tourism and trade in Madrid.
David Domínguez, Country Head of Foodservice Spain at Circana, announced that branded catering has a great opportunity for growth, given that 31% of spending is in branded establishments, and where it matters, 30.7% is spent on ‘where’ and 60% on ‘what is eaten’.
New consumption models: key to ensuring the success of catering
Within the consumer's ten commandments in Foodservice and the fight for Share of Clock, we can say that we are talking about the emergence of hybrid models that require their own strategies, with a more daytime consumer, breakfast, mid-morning snacks and lunch, with more than 24 million visits in this environment. 'The brand matters a lot and the market needs constant innovation. The year 2024 saw a total of 42.5 billion euros, representing 34% of immediate consumption in catering. Meanwhile, consumption at home rose to a total of 83 billion euros.' According to David Domínguez, from Circana, consumers are opting for shorter, more flexible menus and are interested in a single main course and dessert. This budgetary restraint, also driven by healthy living, points to a revolution in beverages, with a sharp and very significant drop of 4.2 points in alcohol consumption among the younger generation and 1.8 points among the mature generation.
Holistic sustainability and energy efficiency
Consumers, who want inclusive local products, are concerned about working conditions, waiters and waste: ‘We are ashamed of throwing food away, so we take leftovers home with us’.
Another piece of data provided by Circana indicates that 75% of Spaniards have restaurant-related apps on their phones.
Madrid, the engine of economic and social development
Borja Hernández de Alba, president of Marcas de Restauración, opened the second edition of Marcas con M de Madrid, arguing that Madrid is the autonomous community with the highest growth in the opening of organised catering establishments, the highest GDP contribution to Spain and the highest number of jobs created. Apparently, last year, Madrid opened a total of 340 establishments, exceeding the figure of 4,000 for the whole of Spain. ‘The restaurant industry is going through an excellent period and accounts for 36% of the market share, which means more than 9% of GDP’. Two out of every three euros that enter our country do so in Madrid, thanks to its legal certainty, freedom of enterprise, efficient regulation of SMEs and an open stance against hyper-regulation, 'it is about consolidating the growth path of a booming sector,‘ according to Marta Nieto, Director General of Trade, Consumption and Services of the Community of Madrid, who began her speech by thanking the entire restaurant business community for contributing to national economic development. `We are an administration that supports businesses to make their lives easier, hence the Open Market Law on economic activities, which is sensitive to the difficulties faced by our entities.'
Star format, ‘CEO vs CEO’
The conversation between the senior executives of the country's leading brands, Luis Comas (CEO of AmRest, La Tagliatella, etc.) and Enrique Francia (president of FoodBOX, Lateral, SantaGloria, etc.) allowed them to share their visions, strategies and challenges for the future of the sector. For Enrique Francia, the restaurant sector is complicated due to the enormous competition and the presence of a customer that is difficult to predict. ‘The key is to develop a clear idea of what you want to do with your brand and take care of people.’ Luis Comas, with more than 375 establishments in Spain and 110 in the CAM, warned of the need to be attentive to changes in trends in the sector, where restaurants are the thermometers of the economy that indicate that the market is very dynamic: ‘If we open a fridge today, we will see more different brands and formats’.
For his part, Juan Manuel López Zafra, Director General of Economy for the Community of Madrid, who stated that the restaurant sector generates a total of 90,000 direct jobs in the region, highlighted the role of the CAM as a ‘service economy in tourism and catering, which generates strong economic activity and investor confidence, which is why we support freedom of opening hours, so that business owners can decide whether or not they want to open their establishments’.
Joint work: public-private collaboration
The Deputy Minister of Culture, Tourism and Sport of the CAM, Luis Martín, referred to the Community's restaurant industry recovery plan, which has achieved excellent results thanks to the work, projects and actions associated with the restaurant industry, sustainable improvements in the offering and employment support programmes for the sector. According to the latest figures for May 2025, the hospitality sector employs a total of 246,000 workers, of which branded restaurants account for 30 per cent of the market share.
For the mayor of Las Rozas, José de la Uz, the region is moving forward as a whole, with Madrid at the epicentre of new trends: ‘Brands build cities, generate employment and improve the quality of life in neighbourhoods’.
Paloma Cabral, institutional vice-president of Marcas de Restauración, closed the business forum by saying that public-private collaboration, in a shared future, is essential for joint legislation, with organised catering being a leading economic driver and a sector committed to employment and personal growth: ‘We have talent and capacity. We are an important and active part of the daily lives of millions of citizens’.
