The On-Trade Market: Lessons from 2024 and Opportunities for 2025

What defined the Dutch hospitality market in 2024, and how can businesses turn that into opportunity in 2025? The Roamler Foodservice Trend Report works through last year's data to identify the trends, pressures, and growth areas worth acting on.

Here is a preview of what it covers.

A Market in Motion

2024 was a year of recovery and reinvention for Dutch hospitality, but the segments moved in opposite directions. Fast food outlets grew by as much as 3%, while bars and nightclubs had a harder year — nightclubs declined by 7.5%.

Why the gap? Consumer preferences are shifting, but so are operational factors. Terraces turned out to matter more than expected: relatively few outlets with a terrace closed, and almost every newly opened outlet had one. Adapting to that kind of structural factor is what separates the outlets that hold ground from those that lose it.

Evolving Preferences, Emerging Opportunities

Today's consumer is not only after a meal or a drink. Speed, convenience, and a memorable experience all weigh in. Three trends stood out in 2024.

The Rise of Fast Casual

Fast casual restaurants, which sit between speed and quality, grew by 1.5% in 2024. Themed menus and efficient service models are winning consumers over.

Health-Conscious Menus

Vegetarian now ranks as the second most common cuisine type, and sugar-free beverages continue to gain ground. Health-conscious dining is established rather than emerging.

Cuisine Types

Dutch brasserie cuisine remains the most widespread, but vegetarian and Asian offerings are growing fastest, particularly in urban areas such as Amsterdam.

Data Is What Keeps You Ahead

The report makes a consistent case for data as the basis for understanding and anticipating consumer behaviour. Businesses that use it well respond to trends earlier and more deliberately than those reading the market after the fact.

In practice that means pinpointing high-potential locations, adjusting the offer to regional preferences, and acting on seasonal patterns while they are still current — the kind of work our Foodservice Database and Market Monitor are built for.

Your Roadmap for 2025

The Foodservice Trend Report is less a collection of figures than a working guide to the year ahead. Whether you operate in the field or make decisions from head office, it sets out what changed and what to do about it.