Last year was a generally challenging one for the restaurant industry. Sales for the 500 largest restaurant chains, according to Technomic's Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report, increased just more than 3%. And some sectors, notably casual dining, had a particularly difficult year.
In the second episode of the new Restaurant Business podcast, "A Deeper Dive," Executive Editor Jonathan Maze talks with Joe Pawlak, managing principal with Technomic, about the issues that affected industry sales in 2017. The interview was done during the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago in May.
Pawlak in this episode talks about casual dining, and what affected that sector’s sales. He also talks about some chains making the biggest moves, and he talks about the future of the fast-casual sector.
"A Deeper Dive" is published weekly on RestaurantBusinessOnline.com. You can also find the podcast on SoundCloud. The podcast features guests from around the restaurant industry, including C-level executives from some of the country’s biggest chains, as well as experts who talk about major issues affecting operators and the industry.
Technomic's Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report is an annual study on the largest restaurant chains by system sales in the U.S. Next week, Restaurant Business will publish a deep look at the Top 500, the companies that are growing, the sectors that are struggling, and what’s affecting industry sales.
You can also find this episode on our podcast page here.
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