The number of food halls across Europe has increased dramatically and shows few signs of letting up. Across the continent the total number is up by 50 per cent over the past seven years, with 135 now open and a further seven scheduled to open for soon, according to a recent Food Halls of Europe report by advisor Cushman & Wakefield.
Despite pandemic lockdowns and inflationary cost increases since, which have forced some food halls to close, the concept has gone from strength-to-strength across the continent but notably in the UK and France, where 42 and 20 food halls respectively are either open or coming soon, while new markets including Belgium (4), the Czech Republic, and Ireland have emerged.
The UK is Europe’s most established food hall market, with a number of halls in London – and more already slated to come – while although Altrincham Market House in the north west was the only food hall outside London in 2017, an additional 22 regional food halls are now open or coming soon. These include multiple options in Manchester (5), Liverpool (4), Sheffield (3) and Birmingham (2). Similarly, 15 of France’s 20 food halls are located outside Paris.
However, the expansion is not even. In 2017 the UK had 19 food halls and Italy 18, but in 2024 while the UK has more than doubled the number of sites, in Italy the number has actually contracted from 18 to 16. France now has 20 (eight in 2017), while Germany, Denmark, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Sweden all have between five and eight each.
Major groups emerge
And a number of key operators are beginning to emerge, although Europe is not the focus for all of them, with Time Out Market, Eataly, Mercato Metropolitano and Market Halls all expanding rapidly and proving major local and tourist draws. In fact, Time Out Lisbon is the Portuguese capital’s most popular tourist attraction, although the media-led company has focused its expansion outside Europe, notably in the US and Middle East, in part because of pulling out of potential Waterloo and Shoreditch sites in home market London.
Last year Prague-based Martin Barry Group confirmed that it is to repurpose St. Andrew's Church on Suffolk Street, Dublin into Ireland’s first food hall and its move follows the opening of a major food hall at Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz, its second in the German capital and its fourth overall with two more in its native Czech Republic.
Martin Barry says the Dublin location is a “once-in-a-lifetime project” and has promised to bring “something entirely new” to the city’s hospitality offer when it opens next year. The group’s sites typically feature film screenings, artists and community-driven events in a “mission to connect people and to activate the area,” Barry adds.
Similarly, while Boxpark is not a pure food hall, its hybrid retail and F&B model has also been expanding, despite the threat of closure hanging over its original Shoreditch, London site.
Founder Roger Wade says that the business is exploring opportunities to open in the US to operate a destination under license, and that beyond its UK expansion, the US is the most likely next destination.
Two new London venues are due to open this year, including a shipping container mall at Camden’s Buck Street Market as well as the first Boxhall premium food and music hall concept at Liverpool Street. Boxpark also opened its first regional location in Liverpool last year and will open a Boxhall in Bristol in 2025, while a Birmingham launch is also in the pipeline. Boxpark’s established Croydon and Wembley sites continue to trade as normal.
The original site began with a fashion-led offer when it originally opened in October 2011, with a guaranteed term of five years, and has operated since on a rolling one-year lease. Redevelopment plans mean that it will have to close, something Wade is opposing because he argues that it should not cease operations until the developers are actually ready to start construction, which could take upwards of a year. There will still be a significant hospitality element in the new scheme, “which we would love to just move into and operate,” Wade says.
If that is not possible, Boxpark will seek another site in the inner East London area to create a new food hall and retail location.
Food halls a recipe for success
“A successful food hall is, naturally, one where quality food is a priority. The best also draw from the unique characteristics of its location’s history, architecture and culture,” says Cushman & Wakefield’s Catherine Stevenson, co-author of the sector report. “This authenticity transforms a food hall from a location into a landmark. This is most evident at the Time Out Market Lisbon, which has become one of the most popular and frequently visited attractions in Portugal.”
With some exceptions where landlords deal directly with the food traders, most food halls involve an operator leasing space from a landlord, typically for 10-15 years, and taking over all operational and commercial aspects.
The offer is also evolving. While food remains key, the drive to create a day-long offer means multi-use social spaces hosting events, from cooking classes to competitive socialising, are becoming more popular, as is the creation of new formats such as within transport hub locations.
One such example is La Gare du Sud in Nice, France, a former railway station redeveloped into a 2,400 sq m food hall, while Cambridge Street Collective opened recently in Sheffield, England as the largest purpose-built food hall in Europe at 2,500 sq m as part of a community-focused, local authority-funded project in the city.
Matt Ashman, leisure & restaurant specialist at Cushman & Wakefield, adds: “We anticipate continuing to see a significant increase in food halls across Europe. While some countries have experienced a boom, in others the concept remains relatively unexplored, which presents significant untapped opportunities.”
That means more cities will host food halls, including Porto and Budapest for Time Out Market, Dublin for Manifesto Market, while the likes of Eataly plot aggressive global expansion with few signs of any slowdown.