The slowdown in restaurant and foodservice visits is most prevalent at mid-scale/family dining and casual dining concepts.
Customer visits to U.S. restaurants and foodservice outlets remained negative in the quarter ending June, resulting in six consecutive quarters of weak traffic performance, reports The NPD Group, Chicago. The U.S. foodservice industry has not experienced six quarters in a row of no traffic growth since the recession of 2008-09. The average check at foodservice outlets rose by 2.6% — the largest increase in several years — reflecting higher menu prices.
“No doubt the rising cost of a restaurant meal is weighing heavily on industry traffic performance,” says Bonnie Riggs, restaurant industry analyst. “The vast majority of consumers give restaurants fairly low ratings on affordability compared to other customer satisfaction attributes.”