Consumer Trends
Consumer trends, insights and preferences
Consumer Trends
The senior customer class
Some seniors may want the menu and decor to stay the same year after year. But plenty of others would just as soon shake up their dining habits.
Consumer Trends
Restaurant industry outlook softened
The National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index (RPI) fell below 100 in May, 2010 for the first time in three months. The RPI is a monthly composite index that tracks the health and outlook for the industry, including measures of same-store sales, traffic, capital expenditures and labor.
Continuing high unemployment rates across the U.S. point to a still bumpy road to recovery, but there are signs of hope in the year ahead. Although restaurant traffic was down 1 percent in the third quarter of 2010, visits to restaurants increased during the fourth quarter and growth is forecast to continue into 2011.
We keep hearing about Americans’ increasingly sophisticated palates, but how adventurous are today’s restaurant customers? While some are eager to experiment with new flavors and cuisines, there’s a counter-trend toward back-to-roots comfort foods, reports Technomic’s American Express MarketingBriefing. And according to Mintel’s Innovation on the Menu: Flavor Trends, some familiar flavors are leading the pack.
A new study by the Florida Department of Citrus found that drinking orange juice evokes positive emotions and an optimistic outlook. Through a patented research process designed to reveal unconscious emotions, consumers shared their thoughts and feelings about orange juice and its role in their lives.
Global cuisines and flavors will continue to play an integral role in consumers’ restaurant choices. Industry studies reveal that customers are increasingly driven to try unique flavors. In its Flavor Consumer Trend Report, Technomic finds that 52% of respondents express a preference for restaurants that offer unique or original flavors, up from 42% of those polled in 2009.