Every year foodservice operators hope consumers deliver an eagerly anticipated holiday gift: a surge in sales. This year, the market research firm Datassential is the bearer of glad tidings in its Foodbytes Holiday Issue, and there are positive signs that the industry will continue to ring up strong sales long after ringing in the new year.
While many operators are understandably wrapped up in supply chain and labor shortage challenges, the industry can still take comfort and joy in the nationwide rollout of vaccines and the rollback of restrictions. Virus variants may add to an air of uncertainty, but as Renee Lee Wege, senior publications manager at Datassential, put it: “As always, though, the industry has proven time and time again throughout the pandemic just how innovative and resilient it is, and there’s no doubt that’ll continue.”1
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Topics:
Trends,
Menu,
Flavors & Ingredients,
Menu Strategy,
Sales & Profitability,
Operations,
Fast-Casual Restaurant,
Off-Premises
Despite the unprecedented challenges the restaurant industry faced in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic—including an estimated $255 billion sales loss1—franchising activity didn’t come to a complete halt.
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Topics:
Quick Service Restaurant,
Casual Dining Restaurant,
Delivery,
OREO,
Cookies,
Foodservice Industry,
Menu,
Menu Strategy,
Food & Beverage,
Sales & Profitability,
Drive-Thru,
Limited Time Offers (LTOs)
As America’s most-ordered meal at restaurants, burgers bite off a huge chunk of market share. For the year ending June 2021, burgers gobbled up 7.6 billion sales—far more than any other menu item.1 A versatile and reliable business booster, the classic burger is a cash cow that restaurant brands refresh and reinvent with endless culinary ingenuity.
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Topics:
Menu,
Menu Strategy,
Sales & Profitability,
Operations,
COVID-19,
Coronavirus,
Sandwiches/Burgers,
Plant-Based
Driven by a need for nourishment, distraction and other factors,1 in recent years, snacking has become somewhat of a national pastime.
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Topics:
Snacking,
Noncommercial,
Promotions,
Salads,
Side Dishes,
Beverage,
Business & Industry,
Commercial,
Cookies/Bars/Snacks,
Beverages,
Appetizers/Snacks,
Breakfast,
Lunch,
Dinner,
Dessert,
Snack,
Better-for-You,
Bars,
Single-Serve,
Grab-and-Go,
Foodservice Industry,
Menu,
Consumer,
Menu Strategy,
Sustainability,
Food & Beverage,
Packaging,
Sales & Profitability,
Brownies,
Drive-Thru,
Dessert Pizza,
COVID-19,
Coronavirus,
Fast-Casual Restaurant,
Branded Ingredients,
Consumer Behavior,
Value,
Indulgence,
Limited Time Offers (LTOs),
Dips/Spreads/Sauces,
Sandwiches/Burgers,
Prepackaged,
Design,
Functional,
Healthful,
Sweet,
Breads/Muffins/Pastries,
Fresh
In 2020, the foodservice industry experienced its sharpest sales decline in history, due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Signs indicate sales are on the rise within the sector. However, ongoing labor shortages may be preventing some operators from reaching their pre-pandemic volume level.
Turnover rates have reached 144% at limited-service establishments and 106% at full-service restaurants—which are operating with six fewer employees in the back of the house and roughly three less front-of-house workers than in 2019.
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Topics:
Technology,
Noncommercial,
Promotions,
Family Restaurant,
Business & Industry,
Healthcare,
Commercial,
Casual Dining Restaurant,
Grab-and-Go,
Labor,
Foodservice Industry,
Menu,
Customer Experience,
Menu Strategy,
Retail,
Sales & Profitability,
Recruitment & Retention,
COVID-19,
Coronavirus,
Off-Premises,
Limited Time Offers (LTOs),
Prepackaged,
Digital/Online Ordering,
Touchless,
On-Premises,
Foodservice,
Workplace,
Contactless Payments
