Press Release - May 2026

• The value of the catering market maintained positive momentum in 2025, although growth slowed somewhat amid tighter price restraint. As a result, it reached €4.885 billion that year, up 6% from 2024.

• The institutional catering segment accounts for around 80% of the market's total value, with revenue of over €3.8 billion and growth of 5.8% in 2025. Services for healthcare sites stand out, accounting for over 40% of this market.

• INFORMA's DBK Sectoral Observatory recently published these insights in the 'Catering' Sectoral Report.

Madrid, 13 May 2026.- According to INFORMA's (Cesce's subsidiary) DBK Sectoral Observatory—a leading provider of business, financial, sectoral, and marketing information in Spain and Portugal—the Spanish catering market grew 6.0% in 2025, reaching a value of €4.885 billion, compared with 9.4% in the previous fiscal year. 

This slowing in growth was driven by tighter price restraint, although strong demand maintained the upward trend in business.

The institutional catering segment accounted for nearly 80% of the total market, with revenue of €3.855 billion, after growing 5.8% year-over-year from 2024. Within this segment, healthcare services (hospitals and homes for the aged) continued to carry the most weight, accounting for nearly 41% of institutional catering turnover, followed by catering for educational sites (37%) and for companies (17%).
 
Meanwhile, high-end catering accounted for 13.2% of total turnover, reaching €645 million, and stood out as the most dynamic segment thanks to favourable trends in private consumption and business activity.

As for airline catering, growth slowed, in line with the moderation in the increase in passenger numbers. This segment generated revenue of €385 million, up 5.5% from the previous fiscal year. 

The catering sector comprised around 950 companies in 2025, employing nearly 75,000 workers. The business landscape is characterised by the coexistence of a large number of small and medium-sized operators alongside a small group of large companies operating nationwide. The latter are active in airline catering and institutional catering.

Concentration is high, with the top five operators accounting for around 45% of market value in fiscal year 2025; the top ten, 60.5%.

Data Synthesis, 2025