Hand Held Food Continues to Drive Customers in the Door.

In a recent survey conducted by David Decker of Consumer Edge Insight  of restaurant customers in the United States, when it comes to identifying what drives loyalty for restaurants, the most commonly-cited factors in determining which fast-casual restaurant is visited most often are best-tasting food (51%), good service (46%), cleanliness (45%), and highest-quality food (43%). The survey included 17 of the largest fast-casual restaurant brands in the US.

Look at the companies in the top 5 and the products that they serve.  Regular readers of this blog know that Hand Held Food continues to fuel retail food growth in the United States and around the world.  It is one of the main drivers within the grocerant niche.

Here are some of the findings: “The survey asked consumers to rate restaurant brands on different attributes. The fast-casual brands with the strongest perceptions for providing “great-tasting food” among past visitors were Pei Wei Asian Diner (51%), Culver’s (49%), Panera Bread (47%), and Chipotle Mexican Grill (46%). Pei Wei Asian Diner (44%), Panera Bread (43%), Culver’s (42%), Firehouse Subs (39%), and Five Guys Burgers (38%) were the top scoring brands for having “good service.” The top-scoring fast-casual brands for “high-quality food” were Pei Wei Asian Diner (45%), Panera Bread (43%), Chipotle Mexican Grill (38%), Firehouse Subs (37%), and Culver’s (33%)….

The survey also asked past-three-month-visitors to each brand how satisfied they were with their most recent visit and how likely they were to visit again. The brand whose recent customers are most likely to visit again is Chipotle Mexican Grill (73% said they will “definitely” visit again), followed by Panera Bread (70%), Culver’s and Firehouse Subs (with 67% each), and Five Guys Burgers and Zaxby’s (with 66% each).”

Steven A. Johnson is Grocerant Guru at Tacoma, WA based foodservice consultancy Foodservice Solutions® and writes a blog at: http://www.grocerants.blogspot.com. He can be found on linkedin at:linkedin.com/in/grocerant,facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Twitter.com/grocerant Email Contact: grocerant@q.com