The analysts at the Rockefeller Institute of Government, the Albany, N.Y.-based research group, actually call the third consecutive quarter of strong growth in state revenues a “temporary bubble.” Preliminary data from 46 states has overall state revenues up 11% in the second quarter 2013 vs. the same quarter last year. A big factor in the…

Foodservice Equipment Reports’ entire 2014 forecast package is available for just $1,295. It includes eight PowerPoint decks covering data and analysis of macro-economic, operator and materials-price trends as they impact the foodservice E&S market, as well as exclusive information on E&S manufacturer list-price trends from AutoQuotes Inc. FER‘s annual rankings of the top U.S. E&S…

The NPD Group has issued a new research report that details how prepared food offerings at retail outlets such as supermarkets are eating into restaurants’ lunch and dinner traffic. The report, “The Retail Prepared Foods Market: Assessing the Competition,” says visits for prepared foods at retail outlets at lunch have soared 29% since 2008, while…

As we reported two weeks ago in FER Fortnightly, sales of equipment and supplies surged in the second quarter of this year, catching us very much by surprise. The MAFSI Barometer, a reflection of manufacturers’ rep sales trends, jumped 6.1%, a record quarterly gain for the 11-year-old index. Combined revenues at the seven publicly reporting…

Our good friend Scott Hume ran a very interesting item in the Sept. 5 issue of his Burger Business e-newsletter. He reported that customer satisfaction with limited-service restaurants in the United Kingdom reached parity for the first time in satisfaction with full-service concepts, according to research from the National Customer Satisfaction Index. The research group…

Overall food prices at the wholesale level fell for the second month in a row, according the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index, released Sept. 13. While the index for so-called finished foods rose 0.6% in August, the index tracking prices of intermediate foods and feeds dropped 2.3%, while the…

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary reading of consumer sentiment in September, released Sept. 13, fell to 76.8, the lowest reading since April. The final August Sentiment Index stood at 82.1, down significantly from the post-recession highs seen in the May through July period. UM Surveys of Consumers Chief Economist Richard Curtin attributed the sharp…

If you missed the President’s Preview last month, you can still purchase the entire forecast for $1,295. It includes eight PowerPoint decks covering data and analysis of macro-economic, operator and materials-price trends as they impact the foodservice E&S market, as well as exclusive information on E&S manufacturer list-price trends from AutoQuotes. FER’s annual rankings of…

Sales of foodservice equipment and supplies posted surprisingly strong gains in the second quarter of 2013 versus the year-prior quarter, according to the MAFSI Business Barometer from the Manufacturers’ Agents Association for the Foodservice Industry, released last week. The 6.1% jump in sales was a record quarterly gain for the Barometer, which was first established…

While the results were mixed from company to company, seven publicly reporting foodservice equipment and supplies companies reported a combined second quarter revenue gain of 4.1%, compared with 2Q/2012, the strongest increase since the first quarter of last year. Sales of the five equipment-oriented companies rose 4.7% while the two supplies oriented companies managed a…