MAFSI Barometer Up 3.9% In 3Q, But Wide Regional Disparities Show

The Business Barometer from the Manufacturers’ Agents Association for the Foodservice Industry improved modestly in the third quarter 2014. Overall sales rose 3.9% compared to the third quarter in 2013. This was improvement over 2Q’s 3.1% increase and a 3.3% gain 1Q. But the real story is the wide disparities between MAFSI regions.

Sales boomed in the West and were quite decent in the South. In the Midwest, sales gains were appropriately in the middle. But sales in the Northeast lagged and in Canada, the market really struggled. The numbers? Sales out West rose 5.9%; reps in the South reported a 4.4% sales gain. In the Midwest, sales rose 3.7%. But the Northeast managed only a 2.1% increase and sales in Canada were up a paltry 0.5%. the results in Canada are a bit surprising given the operator sales have been quite strong in the country the past two quarters, according to Restaurant Canada’s Outlook Survey.

Among the product categories equipment sales rose 4.1%, supplies were up 4%, tabletop sales increased 3.1% and furnishings sales were 1.6% higher than a year ago. The reps do expect better growth in the final quarter of the year, forecasting a 4.9% gain.

The complete MAFSI Business Barometer is available at mafsi.org.

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