U.S. Restaurant Industry Ends 2020 Making Its Way Out of the Steep Declines Caused by Pandemic

The U.S. restaurant industry closed one of the most unpopular years in history moving its way out of the steepest declines the industry has experienced since the Great Recession, reports The NPD Group. Customer transaction declines at major restaurant chains in December were down -10% compared to same period year ago, a 27-point improvement from April, the height of the shelter-at-home and restaurant dine-in closure mandates, when transactions declined by -37% from a year ago, according to NPD’s CREST® Performance Alerts, which provides a rapid weekly view of chain-specific transactions and share trends for 75 quick service, fast casual, midscale, and casual dining chains representing...

Technomic's Take: 2021 Global Trends Outlook

We can only guess what’s in store for 2021 in the global restaurant space. 2020 showed us—among so many things—that what’s expected and what happens don’t always align, to say the least. That said, we think our 2020 restaurant trend forecast holds up fairly well given the reality of the marketplace affected so drastically by the pandemic. Ghost kitchens certainly moved mainstream. Vegan fare got more space to stretch and grow. Plant-based meats continued to inform product development, especially across Asia. Beverage chains certainly broke out from the crowd—again, especially in Asia. And halloumi, pinsa pizzas and sliders had strong showings on chain menus across the world. So, what’s in store for the coming year...

U.S. Full Service Restaurants Struggle as Visit and Transaction Declines Stay in the Double-Digits

Full service restaurants (FSRs) were still recovering from the Great Recession, which ended over ten years ago, when the COVID pandemic hit along with shelter-at-home orders and mandated dine-in closures. With most of FSR business being on-premises dining, these sit down, table service restaurants were hit hard.

Visits to FSRs were down 47% in the April, May, and June quarter, the height of the mandated dine-in closures, compared to same quarter year ago, reports The NPD Group. Quick service restaurants (QSRs), which already have developed off-premises operations like carry-out and drive-thru, realized...

U.S. Quick Service Restaurant Chains Drive Customer Transaction Declines in Week Ending July 12 

Total customer transactions at major U.S. restaurant chains declined by 14% in the week ending July 12 versus year ago, compared to 11% in the prior week. Quick service restaurant (QSR) chains drove the decline, decelerating 4-points to 13% year-over-year while full service restaurant (FSR) chains improved declines by 3-points to 26% year-over-year.

A reversal from last week when FSRs drove the declines and QSRs fueled the improvement in declines, according to NPD’s CREST Performance Alerts, which provides a rapid weekly view of chain-specific transactions and share trends for 75 quick service, fast casual, midscale, and casual dining chains representing...

U.S. Quick Service Restaurant Chains Fuel Improvement in Customer Transaction Declines

Customer transactions at major U.S. restaurant chains declined by 10% in the week ending July 5 compared to same period year ago, an improvement over last week’s decline of 14%, reports The NPD Group. All of the improvement in the week sources to major quick service restaurant chains (QSRs) where customer transaction declines improved by 4-points from the prior week’s decline of 13% versus year ago.

Full service restaurants (FSRs) continued to struggle in the week with customer transactions down 30% compared to year ago, a 5-point decline from the prior week, according to NPD’s CREST Performance Alerts, which provides a rapid weekly view of chain-specific transactions and share trends for...

States Reopening and Mother’s Day Help to Continue Improvements in Restaurant Transaction Declines

U.S. restaurant chain transaction declines continued to improve for the fourth consecutive week in the week ending May 10 as more states reopened and America’s mothers were honored with a meal they didn’t need to cook. Large chain restaurant customer transactions were down 23% compared to a year ago, improving from a 26% decline the prior week, reports The NPD Group.

Large full service chain restaurants benefitted from a Mother’s Day lift, with transaction declines up 39% versus the prior week, although still down 58% compared to year ago. Transactions at large quick service chain restaurants declined by 21% in the week ending May 10 compared to year ago, versus...

U.S. Restaurant Chain Transaction Declines Improve for Three Consecutive Weeks

Lingering tailwinds from government relief payments and the lifting of dine-in restrictions in states like Georgia, Florida, and Texas helped to improve U.S. restaurant chain transaction declines in the week ending May 3, reports The NPD Group.

For the week ending May 3 total transactions were down 26% from year ago compared to a 32% decline the prior week and a decline of 43% the week ending April 12, the low point of the COVID-19 disruption, according to CREST Performance Alerts, which provides a rapid weekly view of chain-specific transactions and share trends for...

While Total U.S. Restaurant Traffic Declines by 22% in March, Digital and Delivery Orders Jump

March is supposed to come in like a lion and leave like a lamb, but with 97% of U.S. restaurants impacted by mandated dine-in closures by mid-March, the month left like an angry lion for America’s foodservice industry. Restaurant traffic declined by 22% in the month compared to same month year ago, but a testament to the U.S. consumers’ want for someone other than themselves to make their meals, digital restaurant orders increased by 63% and delivery by 67% in March, reports the NPD Group.

Visits to quick service restaurants (QSR), many of which already had off-premise operations, like carry-out and drive-thru, in place prior to the dine-in closures, decreased by...