Maybe There’s Hope: Wealthy Feeling Flush And Will Spend More

It’s a fact of foodservice life that wealthier households spend more eating out than others. The rule of thumb is half of foodservice spending is done by the top quartile of households, those with $75,000 or more in annual income.

In this light, a study from an Atlanta-based group that tracks the attitudes and spending plans of the wealthiest 10% of households says its current business condition index hit its highest mark since the fall of 2007. The indexes for future business conditions and the stock market are in positive territory. Of those surveyed, 80% expect their net worth to be the same or higher in coming months while two-thirds expect equal or increased incomes. Such positive expectations usually translate into more spending, according to the American Affluence Research Center. Ron Kurtz, president of the research group, noted that “the affluent have a modestly better outlook for the future than the general public.”

The findings align with data from the University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers, which has consistently noted that wealthier Americans feel better about the economic outlook than those with less income. In the October release that detailed the plunge in overall consumer sentiment, UM said that while worried about the outlook for wages and jobs, consumers reported gains in household wealth, including stocks and home values.

So maybe there’s hope yet for foodservice.