Hospitality outlook for 2025

So what can those in the hospitality industry expect for 2025? Among the forecasters, optimism seems to be prevailing. With interest rates likely to drop, and the pressure on consumers easing, 2025 should see lower operating costs and more customers willing to spend.

The 2025 trends you can read about today:

• Changes in tastes. The ever-increasing shift to sustainability and local foods, a focus on health and well-being, fermented food, and even changing protein sources could see the dinner table look a little different next year. 
• Sales automation. From mobile services to self-service kiosks, customers that serve themselves save you money.
• Cost-cutting. Expenses shot up this year, and not for the first time, which means business owners like you are focused on trimming the fat from their businesses. Expect more of the same in 2025.
• Packages, bundles, add-ons and extras. Businesses are offering everything guests want in one deal, providing convenience and making more on every sale.
• The hunt for the best prices. While economies should stabilise in 2025, a difficult few years has turned consumers into value seekers, so be sure to show your true value to your guests.

1. Changes in tastes and preferences

As is the case every year, the winners of 2025 will be those restaurants, cafes, and hotels that can anticipate the direction of the market, offering guests the things they want before they even know they want them!

The hospitality industry is always evolving. Food and drink fads come and go; the success of sensations like bubble-tea, kombucha, kale crisps, and avocado on toast can be difficult to predict. But these preferences go beyond the flavors themselves. People are looking for nutrients like never before, and scrutinizing the sources of dishes in search of sustainability and ethical production.

Here are our predictions for the flavors of 2025:

Sustainability

You may have seen sustainability on previous prediction lists, and I can promise you it’s going to appear on many others because it’s the flavour of the future. Forbes cites statistics that show 72% of Americans consider sustainability an urgent priority for the food industry, and an 18.2% rise in consumer interest over the last two years^[3].

So how can you capitalize on this? Well, the easiest way is to make more deals with local food sources, and advertize those partnerships. Stock local beers, and fill your shelves with the products of local farmers. If you struggle to get the products you need in your local counties, simply maintain the motto “the closer the better”. The less distance your food travels, the lower its carbon impact. Then, consider the way the food is produced. Sustainable farming is careful about how it uses pesticides and how it interacts with the environment and the soil it relies on.

Fresh protein sources

Many of the same consumers focused on sustainability are also thinking about their wellbeing, and particularly how they’re getting protein into their diet. They days of simple meat, carbs, and vegetable dishes may not be long gone, but that’s no longer how many diners are thinking about their dinner.

2025 is likely to see a more diverse selection of protein sources in many restaurants. This will include Quorn products and the mushroom protein they employ and relied upon by many vegetarians, along with bean dishes, algae, tofu, tempeh, jackfruit, and nuts. But this protein diversification will also influence the choices made by meat-eaters, leading to more sales of organ meats in addition to more traditional cuts and processed protein sources.

Fusion of comfort and exotic flavours

With a market familiar with a comfy takeaway (or even home-delivered) dinner, often seeking that solace after a difficult day in these hard times, familiar favorites are expected to flourish in 2025. That means more coffee sales, chocolate and sugary treats, pizza and fast food, and other products that possess that nostalgic kick back to the younger years.

But even as those sales continue to rise, chefs are finding news ways to present these old reliables, incorporating spices, blending flavours together to retain the nostalgia but empower the palette with something new. The popularity of Asian food, particularly South East Asian, is also on the up. Gut-healthy fermented foods, pickled products, miso, are becoming more familiar too, with Gen Z maturing into a food world where these products are readily available.

How can you make the most of this? Balance your menu with dishes your diners will know and love, but don’t be afraid to diversify with more exotic cuisines becoming ever more popular.

2. Sales automation

Labour shortages and rising costs provides a huge incentive for businesses to reduce expensive, hard-to-fill payrolls and turn to the convenient, lower-cost self-service options to process sales. Self-service kiosks don’t just lower costs by saving on payroll, they also cut queues and bring convenience to staff and diners alike.

Kiosks aren’t the only way restaurants can automate their sales process, though, and with takeaway and delivery still on the rise, the need to offer online and table-based ordering options remains high. Those restaurants that haven’t yet switched on to this will feel more and more pressure to do so, as young and old diners get familiar with these processes. That doesn’t mean getting rid of your front-of-house or removing the personal service so many love. It simply means automating the regular processes to leave your team to fulfil the orders and deal with the difficult sales, the special requests, and the essential upselling!

3. Cost-cutting

While payroll cuts and online ordering may be one part of it, the hospitality industry will find plenty of other ways to lower their expenses in 2025. As the cost of ingredients, wages, and utilities have all risen, businesses are seeing tighter margins across the board. AI analysis can help you spot the ways you can increase efficiency in your business, but as everybody knows that the higher cost of living has put pressure on all pockets. This makes many consumers reluctant to spend, meaning restaurants and hotels won’t want to pass the pain onto their guests.

When a business is seeing smaller profit margins, and is trying to avoid pushing up prices, the third option is to find a cheaper way of trading. This makes cost-cutting a key area in 2025. In addition to automation, avenues that are likely to crop up include:

• Waste reduction strategies. When ingredients are racking up a large bill, no one wants to see them in the bin. Incorporating unused food into your specials menu, saving cut offs, or even adjusting portion sizes to ensure all your ingredients go onto the plate will help turn your business into a waste-free wonder. This is something many will be aiming for in 2025.
• Reduced labor hours. Whether you’re using a kiosk, adjusting your point of sale, or cutting down on your floor team in lean periods, an efficient payroll that reserves labor for the essential services in front and back of house will keep the cost of doing business as low as possible.
• Supplier deals. As the expense of ingredients rises, having close ties with suppliers helps businesses ensure they get the best deals on offer. Negotiating with suppliers directly, exchanging valuable custom for lower prices on the food and drink needed to trade will help boost profit margins for the cannier businesses in 2025.
• Energy efficiency. Hotels, in particular, are always looking for ways to improve energy efficiency. Motion sensitive lighting, for example, is now a standard in the industry. But from water waste to insulation to solar panels, innovation is the name of the game, saving those brave and clever enough to find new methods of building energy efficiency into a business thousands and even millions, and this will continue into 2025.

4. Packages, bundles, add-ons and extras

Through package deals, customization, upselling in rooms or at tables, extra courses, side dishes, rounds of drinks or even entirely new product lines, there are always ideas you can implement to boost your sales. 2025 is looking likely to be another year in which the winners will be those who make the most of these opportunities.

However, while package options will remain a key method of optimizing revenue, there is a shift in the market as guests get more and more used to being offered more personalized deals and greater choice. This is leading to unbundling and an increase in non-room revenue in the hotel industry, which 49% of hotel executives strongly believe will represent a larger portion of revenue next year^[4].

Across the wider industry, one key battleground will be the optimizing online and app platforms to ensure larger spends, as businesses and consumers get more familiar with online ordering. Ensuring a full menu is accessible regardless of the sales channel, with strong designs and a smooth sales process.

5. The hunt for value

It may not strike you as a new concept, but with money on everyone’s minds, your prices will be one of the first things people look at when considering whether or not to spend at your business. But this doesn’t mean simply having lower prices than your competitors. In 2025, when people splash the cash, they’re going to want the feeling that they’re buying good value.

Creating the perception of value takes the co-ordinated efforts of every part of your operation. From reducing wait times with efficient ordering, fast food and drink preparation, and wait service, all the way to personalizing service with technology and a team that knows the names, habits and preferences of repeat visitors. This ties in with a customizable service that gives guests the freedom to choose, and feel especially catered to, as well as through promotions and discounts that can wow them with bargains without eating into your profits.

2025: a year of greater efficiency and advancement

If you’re wondering what changes you should be making in your hospitality business in the coming year, we hope these tips will give you some inspiration. With stabilizing economies, there will be a balancing of people’s budgets, with greater spending but a lingering precaution, making it crucial you show your business as the place to go for the flavors people are looking for at prices people are ready to pay.

Behind the scenes, implementing technology from AI to energy-efficient systems and self-service kiosks give you the opportunity to run a cheaper operation, and make it easier for you to present a value offer to guests without cutting your profits. Meanwhile, alternative proteins and a blend of familiar and exotic flavours could make your menu the must-try in 2025. Good luck!