Traffic Declines Slowed In Second Quarter, NPD Reports

Restaurant traffic fell 1% in the second quarter versus the same quarter last year, according to NPD Group’s CREST research. It is the eighth consecutive quarter of traffic declines according to the Port Washington, N.Y., research group. Noncommercial traffic fell 6% during the period.

But in yet another sign that the foodservice market is gradually coming out of its worst downturn in more than half a century, the rate of decline continued to moderate. Restaurant traffic was off 2% in the first quarter ’10 and 3% in the fourth quarter last year.

Among the segments, quick-service restaurants saw flat traffic after five quarters of traffic declines. Midscale and fine dining/upscale hotel visits fell by 3% while casual dining was off 2%. All segments saw improvement.

Business and industry, vending and recreation continued to be the noncommercial segments most negatively affected by the downturn.

Information on NPD Group research products can be found at npd.com.  “””