Technomic’s mid-2015 state-of-the-restaurant industry report shows that quick-service restaurants are doing well, developing clear niches in the industry.
While consumers are filling restaurant tables at pre-recession levels, they haven’t necessarily opened their wallets as freely according to a mid-2015 trend analysis from research firm, Technomic.
“Midscale dining is doing better but must keep reinventing and innovating to continue this path,” said Joe Pawlak, senior vice president at Technomic. “Fine dining has bounced back. Meanwhile, limited-service restaurants, especially fast-casual concepts, continue to bite into the casual-dining market, although there is market improvement in this sector.”
Technomic’s experts traveled to some of the nation’s noted restaurant cities and conducted first-hand research, interviews and surveys among operators, chefs and consumers, combining their findings with qualitative data from Technomic’s Digital Resource Library and quantitative data from the firm’s MenuMonitor database and Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report. Restaurant Hospitality shares six key trends from the report:
1. Fast casual dining continues to outpace all the other dining experience with no signs of slowing in growth. This segment continues to outpace all others, growing at 11 percent. Quick-service restaurants are growing at a 4-percent rate; casual dining at 5.6 percent.
2. Within the fast-casual segment, the build-your-own concept, emphasizing customization, is growing twice as fast as those that do not offer specialization.
3. Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs) that are doing well—Chick-fil-A and Culver’s, to name a few—have developed clearly defined niches, achieved cult-like followings and garner higher check averages.
4. Consumers are demanding to know the back stories on ingredient sourcing and processing. Operators are responding with increased menu transparency while subtracting additives from their food preparations and menus.
5. Technology is becoming more necessary. Online ordering, mobile apps and table tablets fulfill two needs: appealing to Millennials’ high-tech and high-speed preferences and supplementing service in a tight labor markets.
6. Food blogs, foodie media and foodservice everywhere mean everyone’s a culinary expert. Dining needs to be an Instagram-worthy experience with dishes ready to be shared.
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