Restaurants that have Success Do Leave Clues

 

Giving credit where credit is due.  The grocerant niche filled with Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food continues to drive top-line sales and bottom-line profits in every channel of retail foodservice, much of which was adopted from successful restaurants. 

According to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® the recent insights by the NPD group show just have important globaly that takeaway/takeout food sales have become.  Here let’s take a look: 

“For the first time since the pandemic began, consumer spending in the food service industry in Europe bounced back to pre-pandemic highs in November 2022. This was a key finding of the latest “State of the European Food Service Industry” analysis, which was announced today by The NPD Group through its CREST consumer panel. 

Continued hybrid working, spending more time at home, and the ease of both online shopping and ordering food for takeout and delivery has resulted in increased consumption at home. However, it has also made it difficult for the food service industry to completely rebound. Total food service spending in Europe in 2022 declined by 6% to €292 billion (compared to €309 billion for the full-year 2019). NPD expects the sector will bounce back to pre-pandemic levels this year, as inflation eases and COVID-19 concerns continue to recede.

Growth in click-and-collect orders tripled in 2022. European consumers spent close to €9 billion in 2022, up from €3 billion in 2019. Click and collect is the fastest growing at-home foodservice and is expected to reach €10 billion this year.

Consumption of prepared food from restaurants that is consumed at home is expected to remain 50% above 2019 levels. These types of meals will represent more than one out of five meals, according to NPD, which recently merged with IRI to create a leading global technology, analytics, and data provider.”

Four macro needs drive all consumption: fueling, wellness, connecting and gratifying. Fueling is the top driver, influencing one-third of all eating occasions. The need for wellness grew throughout the pandemic and is second to fueling as a consumption driver. Wellness now directly impacts 21 percent of all eating occasions, which amounts to billions of occasions annually. With most meals sourced from home — a behavior established long before the pandemic — NPD expects wellness as a consumption driver to remain elevated into the foreseeable future.

If you are coming to the National Restaurant Show in Chicago I suggest that you stop by the The NPD Group  booth and see what else you can learn.

For international corporate presentations, regional chain presentations, educational forums, or keynotes contact: Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions.  His extensive experience as a multi-unit restaurant operator, consultant, brand / product positioning expert, and public speaking will leave success clues for all. For more information visit GrocerantGuru.com, FoodserviceSolutions.US or call 1-253-759-7869

Restaurant Competition Stifles Customer Counts

 

Consumers are not eating less.  Restaurant customers are eating somewhere else, at your competitor, at home, in the car, a grocery store deli / restaurant / coffee shop, or convenience store according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Recently the NPD Group reported that restaurant visits in the U.S. have gone down in the second calendar quarter of 2022 due to inflation and rising menu prices. That is part of it for sure.

NPD reported that, physical and online restaurant traffic declined by 2% in the quarter versus a year ago, -6% below the pre-pandemic level in the same quarter in 2019. Consumer restaurant spending, which reflects higher costs in contrast to increased visits, was up 2% in the quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago and increased by 3% versus the pre-pandemic second quarter in 2019.

Thus, a conundrum; raise your prices and lose customers, or hold prices and lose money. You can’t sustain losing money for ever according to Johnson.  So, raise your prices and elevate your food offering to include mix and match grocerant niche meal offerings.

You Are In A Battle for 

SHARE OF STOMACH

In NPD’s recent report they noted, “Visits to quick service restaurants (QSRs), representing 82% of total restaurant traffic, declined by 2% in the second quarter compared to last year’s quarter, 3% below the pre-pandemic level for the same period in 2019. QSR fast casual restaurant traffic was down 1% in the second quarter of this year compared to a year ago and was up 8% versus the same quarter in 2019.

Full-service restaurant (FSR) visits, representing 18% of restaurant visits, were down 3% in the quarter versus a year ago and declined by 20% compared to the second quarter of 2019, according to NPD’s daily tracking of the U.S. foodservice industry.”

Regular readers of this blog know that the team at Foodservice Solutions® reported that 83.6% of all restaurant meals in 2022 are purchased from a fast-food outlet or drive-thru, we included in the number virtual restaurant delivery.

The team at Foodservice Solutions® found it very interesting that NPD found, “At the dinner daypart, which holds the largest traffic share among dayparts at 34%, traffic declined by 2% in the quarter versus a year ago. Lunch visits, representing a 30% share, decreased by 3% from a year ago.

The morning meal daypart — which includes breakfast and a.m. snack and represents 20% of daypart traffic share — fared best out of all dayparts, ending the quarter flat to a year ago. Visits at p.m. snack, representing 16% of daypart share, declined by 6% in the second quarter compared to a year ago.”  We found that very interesting and think you should take note of it as well.

David Portalatin, NPD food industry expert and author of Eating Patterns in America, stated, “Consumers continue to deal with rising inflation and higher prices. We see three ways consumers respond to higher menu prices: they trade down to lower-priced items, cut back on the number of items ordered or reduce restaurant visits altogether,” …“Operators and manufacturers can win in this environment by differentiating value, understanding that value doesn’t always translate to the lowest price. Quality and value become a critical differentiator when consumers spend on a restaurant meal during these challenging times.”

NPD’s Eating Patterns in America is well worth a read, we recommend it!

Looking for success clues of your own? Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced food marketing and business development ideations. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities, technology, or a new menu product segment.  Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit us on our social media sites by clicking one of the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter