$9.5bn
$XXX.Xm
68,799
5,019
$X.Xbn
The Catering Services industry has endured an unpredictable period over the past few years. Numerous events venues and airlines cancelled their catering services, triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Office closures and working-from-home trends reduced government and business sector sales. These trends reduced industrywide profitability and caused revenue to plummet in 2019-20, but a swift rebound in tourism and live events supported a recent jump in industry revenue as pandemic restrictions eased. Overall, revenue has improved by an expected 5.4% to $9.5 billion through the end of 2023-24.
Industry revenue has grown at a CAGR of 5.4 % over the past five years, to reach an estimated $9.5bn in 2024.
Market size is projected to grow over the next five years.
Company | Market Share (%)
2024 | Revenue ($m)
2024 |
---|---|---|
Compass | 1,561.1 | |
Sodexo Australia | 601.6 | |
Downer | 596.9 |
To view the market share and analysis for all 4 top companies in this industry, view purchase options.
Industry revenue is measured across several distinct product and services lines, including Meals for takeaway consumption, On-premises catering and Liquor and other beverages. Meals for takeaway consumption is the largest segment of the Catering Services in Australia.
COVID-19 pandemic restrictions ate into on-premises catering services sales
The Catering Services companies primarily provide catering services at specified locations or events. Meals, snacks and beverages are transported, prepared and served on or off premises as the client requires.
Purchase this report to view all 4 major companies in this industry.
ANZSIC 4513 - Catering Services in Australia
Get an indication of the industry's health through historical, current and forward-looking trends in the performance indicators that make or break businesses.
Live events and tourism recovery is driving caterers’ revenue. However, rising costs and fierce competition are hindering price increases, reducing profitability.
Learn about an industry's products and services, markets and trends in international trade.
Leading companies have remained competitive by meeting new consumer demands. These companies have diversified their service offerings in response to diminished revenue and re...
Discover where business activity is most concentrated in an industry and the factors driving these trends to find opportunities and conduct regional benchmarking.
Most catering companies operate businesses in highly populated areas. Business locations with higher populations, mainly CBDs, aide caterers since they need catering services...
Get data and insights on what's driving competition in an industry and the challenges industry operators and new entrants may face, with analysis built around Porter's Five Forces framework.
External competition with restaurants and cafes has intensified. Restaurants and cafes are extending their customer reach by offering catering services with specialised menus...
Learn about the performance of the top companies in the industry.
Major companies have strengthened their partnerships with local suppliers. Growing food safety and sustainability concerns have encouraged leading caterers to expand their lo...
Understand the demographic, economic and regulatory factors that shape how businesses in an industry perform.
A tourism rebound has pushed up demand from airlines once again. Following travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, growing inflight catering meal sales are benefitt...
View average costs for industry operators and compare financial data against an industry's financial benchmarks over time.
Profitability has dropped with heightened wage costs. Caterers are facing ongoing challenges of heightened costs, including wages, utilities and ingredients.
Including values and annual change:
IBISWorld has been a leading provider of trusted industry research for over 50 years to the most successful companies worldwide. With offices in Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and China, we are proud to have local teams of analysts that conduct research, data analysis and forecasting to produce data-driven industry reports.
Our analysts start with official, verified and publicly available sources of data to build the most accurate picture of each industry. Analysts then leverage their expertise and knowledge of the local markets to synthesize trends into digestible content for IBISWorld readers. Finally, each report is reviewed by one of IBISWorld’s editors, who provide quality assurance to ensure accuracy and readability.
IBISWorld relies on human-verified data and human-written analysis to compile each standard industry report. We do not use generative AI tools to write insights, although members can choose to leverage AI-based tools within the platform to generate additional analysis formats.
Each industry report incorporates data and research from government databases, industry-specific sources, industry contacts, and our own proprietary database of statistics and analysis to provide balanced, independent and accurate insights.
Key data sources in Australia include:
Analysts also use industry specific sources to complement catch-all sources, although their perspective may focus on a particular organization or representative body, rather than a clear overview of all industry operations. However, when balanced against other perspectives, industry-specific sources provide insights into industry trends.
These sources include:
Finally, IBISWorld’s global data scientists maintain a proprietary database of macroeconomic and demand drivers, which our analysts use to help inform industry data and trends. They also maintain a database of statistics and analysis on thousands of industries, which has been built over our more than 50-year history and offers comprehensive insights into long-term trends.
IBISWorld’s analysts and data scientists use the sources above to create forecasts for our proprietary datasets and industry statistics. Depending on the dataset, they may use regression analysis, multivariate analysis, time-series analysis or exponential smoothing techniques to project future data for the industry or driver. Additionally, analysts will leverage their local knowledge of industry operating and regulatory conditions to impart their best judgment on the forecast model.
IBISWorld prides itself on being a trusted, independent source of data, with over 50 years of experience building and maintaining rich datasets and forecasting tools. We are proud to be the keystone source of industry information for thousands of companies across the world.
Learn more about our methodology and data sourcing on the Help Center.
Unlock comprehensive answers and precise data upon purchase. View purchase options.
The market size of the Catering Services industry in Australia is $9.5bn in 2024.
There are 5,019 businesses in the Catering Services industry in Australia, which has grown at a CAGR of 5.4 % between 2019 and 2024.
The market size of the Catering Services industry in Australia has been growing at a CAGR of 5.4 % between 2019 and 2024.
Over the next five years, the Catering Services industry in Australia is expected to grow.
The biggest companies operating in the Catering Services market in Australia are Compass, Sodexo Australia and Downer
On-premises catering and Meals for takeaway consumption are part of the Catering Services industry.
The company holding the most market share in Australia is Compass.
The level of competition is high and increasing in the Catering Services industry in Australia.