Datassential Takes a Look at Midyear Trends

Datassential, a global food and beverage intelligence platform, has released its 2024 Midyear Trends Report. It posted a preview, highlighting several operator insights and menu winners, plus a look at a growing niche market for foodservice professionals to watch.

Operator Insights

To start, Datassential found almost half (46%) of operators overall noticed in-person dining increase over the past year. “This indicates that post-pandemic, in-person dining is continuing to ramp up and return,” it says. As much as 17% of restaurant operators specifically say that in-person dining in the past year has decreased.

Pickup and takeout orders are the top format to see an increase (36%) in ordering frequency. Interestingly, nearly half (48%) of operators aren’t offering delivery. Reasons could include “difficulty in maintaining food quality in transport, inability to meet delivery timing expectations, the additional labor costs and fees involved, or simply that it doesn’t work well for their business,” it says.

Menu Winners

Pad thai was the menu winner in Q2. “Pad thai is an approachable noodle dish and has the appeal of being able to be customized to suit consumers’ preferences, as it’s typically served with the toppings deconstructed atop the dish,” it says. The platform also points to how cold brew is now on 7.7% of menus, up from less than 1% in 2014. It names Wendy’s Triple Berry Frosty as its LTO winner as far as value.

Growing Niche Market

Datassential found that 45% of consumers who play video games have been influenced to make a food/beverage purchase because of video game-related content or advertisements. This is especially likely among Gen Z (63%) and millennials (56%).

Datassential leaned on data it fielded in online surveys in May 2024; it surveyed more than 1,500 U.S. consumers and 400 U.S. foodservice operators.