Time is running short to register for the industry’s only annual hard-numbers forecast overviewof the foodservice equipment and supplies market. Foodservice Equipment Reports’ 2014 President’s Preview E&S Market Forecast is Wed., Aug. 7, at the Westin O’Hare Hotel in Rosemont, Ill. The annual one-day event provides manufacturers, operators, dealers and others in the industry an…

Since we’re in the middle of preparing our annual equipment and supplies market forecast, we thought we’d share the latest key macro-economic forecasts from Blue Chip Economic Indicators. In the latest survey of the 50 economic forecasting groups who participate in the newsletter, conducted July 2 and 3, the consensus forecasts slipped for 2013 and…

Wholesale food prices rose in June, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported July 12 in its monthly Producer Price Index release. Food prices at the so-called finished level were up 0.2%, while the increase at the intermediate level jumped 0.7%. At the earliest stage of processing, the crude level, prices fell 0.3%. (We usually also…

Two new reports, one on consumer trends in college and university foodservice and another tracking the Top 150 fast-casual chain brands, are now available from Technomic Inc. Student patronage levels have almost returned to pre-recession levels, according to the research firm’s updated “College & University Consumer Trend Report,” with 69% of students now purchasing food…

Among the predictions in The NPD Group’s recently released “A Look into the Future of Foodservice” study is this one: Prepared foods provided by retailers such as supermarkets and drug stores will continue to capture share of the meals/snacks market by taking visits from restaurants. The study, which looks at the foodservice market out through…

The restaurant business may have finally fully recovered from the Great Foodservice Recession. It took nearly six and a half years. Strong gains in current restaurant same-store sales and traffic in May led to a nearly full point jump in the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index, pushing the overall index to 101.8, its highest…

Few indicators are more central to the foodservice outlook than employment growth. The monthly Employment Situation Report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for June was again quite positive with the net addition of 195,000 non-farm payroll workers and upward revisions of both April and May counts to 199,000 for April (from 149,000) and 195,000…

Foodservice, a subset of the leisure and hospitality employment segment, has been adding workers at a much faster pace this year than last, another possible indication that the industry is finally pulling out of the Great Foodservice Recession once and for all. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a 75,000 net gain for leisure and…

Price for quality is still the leading value factor when consumers select a restaurant, but fresh ingredients and selection are close runners-up in the value equation, according to new research from the NPD Group’s foodservice practice. The new report released last month, Defining Value: Where Consumers Choose To Eat Out, looks at how different restaurant…

Want insights into the future of the restaurant industry? The National Restaurant Association has just released three new forward-looking research reports to help restaurant operators, and their suppliers, scope out the future and make more informed business decisions. The new publications contain original research and projections “critical to strategically planning for the future,” according NRA’s…