Americans love their cars. They love them so much they’re increasingly turning them into dining rooms.
A growing number of consumers are eating their meals in the car. According to Technomic data, the percentage of consumers who eat limited-service breakfast out of their car has increased eight points since 2019. It’s increased 5 points for lunch and 4 points for snacks.
It’s even true for full-service restaurants, according to Technomic. In-car consumption of snacks purchased at full-service restaurants is up 11 points since 2019. It’s up three points for full-service breakfast.
More consumers are eschewing meals with partners, friends, family or coworkers to dine on their own. Apparently more of those occasions are taking place behind the wheel of an automobile.
“Car consumption of food has skyrocketed and not really let up,” said Robert Byrne, director of consumer insights with Technomic, a sister company of Restaurant Business. He presented the data this week at the National Restaurant Show, noting that the car has become the "new third place."
Consumers have long consumed meals in their cars, thanks to the proliferation of drive-thru, fast-food breakfast and more hurried lifestyles. Nearly three-quarters of meals purchased from a restaurant are for consumption outside the home, and with more diners ordering from their phones, it’s only natural that they would eat meals in the car after they pick it up.
But Byrne suggests other elements are work. He believes the proliferation of social media is driving a lot of this, as TikTok food reviewers show themselves testing food from the front seats of their cars.
“If you look at that user-generated content on social, the amount of videos that are recorded in a vehicle just shocks me,” he said. “You just live in your car or something like that.”
The pandemic largely stopped dine-in service, at least for a time, and consumers flocked to drive-thrus.
Consumers often ate their meals from their car and grew accustomed to the practice, Byrne said. Consumers “learned that during the pandemic and … have continued to maintain that behavior,” he said.
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