Tough weather—especially in populous Ontario—and rising labor and food costs have restaurant operators in Canada feeling less optimistic about the sales outlook for the first half of 2014, according to the latest Restaurant Outlook Survey from the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association. The percentage of operators reporting they expect sales to grow at a slower…

Foodservice equipment and supplies manufacturers continue to raise prices very moderately, according to the latest data from AutoQuotes Inc. List-price changes for AQ’s more than 500 manufacturers and more than 430,000 SKUs from July 1 to Dec. 31, 2013, show average increases of -0.1% for ventilation through 2.8% for cookware. But five other categories have…

The foodservice industry is expected to grow 3.6% in 2014—1.2% in real terms—according to the National Restaurant Association, which released its annual forecast Jan. 16. The forecast compares with a revised estimate for 2013 of 3.2% current dollar growth and 1% real growth. It will be the fifth consecutive year of real growth following the…

“Glorious” fall weather helped drive a 2% gain in restaurant traffic in the third quarter in the United Kingdom vs. the year earlier third quarter, but traffic was flat or negative in nearly all of the other markets tracked by The NPD Group’s global foodservice practice during the quarter ended September. Traffic was negative in…

Much stronger than expected third-quarter growth in U.S. gross domestic product and better than expected consumer spending helped lift most 2014 forecasts of the macroeconomic indicators that drive foodservice, according to the latest survey from Blue Chip Economic Indicators. The Blue Chip consensus forecast for 2014 real GDP jumped to 2.8% in the survey conducted…

Food prices at the wholesale level fell in two of the three stages of processing again in December, while menu prices rose only 0.1%, according to the latest data from Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price and Consumer Price Indexes. Wholesale food prices at the “finished” level were down 0.6% in December after being flat…

It’s been almost a month since our last FER Fortnightly and a great deal of new economic data has been released. All of it’s good. It turns out third-quarter U.S. real gross domestic product grew 4.1% in the final quarterly estimate, much higher than originally forecast. (The Blue Chip Economic Indicators consensus forecast of 3Q…

The National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index rose again in November, hitting a five-month high at 101.2. The Index declined over the summer, prompted in part by worries about the impending federal-government shutdown and debt-ceiling fight. Six of the index’s components moved higher. Only current capital spending activity and the staffing outlook were lower. All…

The NPD Group’s foodservice practice said in a release Dec. 17 that it expects restaurant visits will come in flat for all of 2013, though spending will rise 2%. The firm also said it expects traffic will grow by 1% in 2014 with spending up 3%. Segments expected to drive the growth include fast casual,…

Thanks in part to tax-law changes that accelerated capital-gains taxes, overall state tax revenues in the second quarter 2013 surpassed previous peak collections in real terms from before the Great Recession, according to data reported by the Rockefeller Institute of Government in Albany, N.Y. But the Institute’s analysts also warned that preliminary data from the…