Consumer Trends
Consumer trends, insights and preferences
Consumer Trends
Millennials' favorite chains
Millennials, the much lauded-after generation that marketers are trying to figure out, have a different set of needs and wants than the overall consumer base.
Consumer Trends
2016 Clean Plate Awards: Staff Picks
These Restaurant Business staff Clean Plate Awards reveal some industry trends on the rise as well as classic comfort foods that stand the test of time.
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.