Sales of food and beverages to food service

Contact info

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

Get documentation of statistics as pdf

Sales of food and beverages to food service 2023

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 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 (tonnes).

Statistical processing

Data is validated on-line form. Subsequent data is checked and corrected by re-contact to respondents. Then summed data and ratios 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

There is no sampling uncertainty as the statistic is a total count.

For some respondents, it is difficult to obtain the figures in the survey. These have provided best estimates instead. There is some uncertainty attached to the figure for sales to foodservice. Total sales are more secure than sales divided by product or customer groups.

Response rate: More than 95 per cent. of the respondents have answered the form.

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 are partially comparable with 'Retail sales of organic food'.

Accessibility and clarity

The statistics are published in News from Denmark's Statistics under the subject Environment and Energy, Ecology. 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.