Fast food is the quickest growing segment of the food service industry and is projected to remain so over the next three years, Bord Bia research has found.

Maureen Gahan, Bord Bia's food service specialist, said quick service restaurants, which include sandwich bars, as well as fast food and pizza outlets, now accounted for 38.1 per cent of people's spending on food eaten outside the home, compared with 11.2 per cent for traditional restaurants.

This reflected a growing demand for value, convenience and customisation, she said, with price still a key consideration for diners who are also prioritising health, entertainment and unique offerings.

The research was outlined at Bord Bia’s seminar for the food service sector, a sector which includes the sale of all food and non-alcoholic drink eaten outside the home.

Ms Gahan said spending in the fast food category was expected to grow by 3.1 per cent annually and reach nearly €2.6 billion by 2017.

Spending in restaurants is forecast to grow by 2.1 per cent while pubs are expected to see a fall of 0.2 per cent in customers’ spending on food and non-alcoholic drinks.

Spending in coffee shop and cafes is expected to increase by 2.5 per cent in the same period while hotels will see an increase of 2.7 per cent.

The food service sector grew from €6.07 billion to €6.13 billion last year, according to the Irish Foodservice Channel Insights report, carried out on behalf of Bord Bia by research and consulting firm Technomic. Its managing director David Henkes said "fast casual" restaurants, such as Chipotle in the US or the O'Brien's sandwich chain here, would take market share from other restaurant segments because of their food quality and "craveability" factor. He pointed to the Blaze pizzeria chain that was providing a customised pizza in just three minutes . "That's what's on trend with customers today."

The seminar later heard of the growing demand for gluten-free products, particularly from non-coeliacs. Geraldine O’Shea who runs the Goodness Grains gluten free bakery in Longford, said the number of people buying gluten-free foods had increased by 400 per cent in the past four years. Just three out of every 10 buyers of gluten-free bread had a diagnosed allergy sufferer in the home, suggesting the increase in demand was a lifestyle choice.