GRAPEVINE, Texas – In a recent review of where the restaurant and foodservice industries stand, Abbie Westra, director of the retail content group of Winsight Media, and Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of research and knowledge group for the National Restaurant Association, offered highlights and challenges facing food sellers.
Here are five key attributes presented June 21 during Winsight’s FARE 2016 conference held at the Gaylord Texan outside Dallas. Many of these insights are based on an exclusive Technomic survey of more than 700 retailers across multiple food-selling channels.
“Millennials are becoming a very loyal and regular c-store consumer,” said Westra. But even better than the much-discussed youth segment is its younger successor, Generation Z. Nearly three-fourths of those teenagers and college kids shop at c-stores at least once a week, Westra said, citing Technomic research.
For c-stores, packaged beverages are a market-basket catalyst. But across other channels, notably restaurants and noncommercial players, made-to-order specialty coffee is heating up sales.
Asked about their biggest challenges, seven of 10 retailers cited a tightening labor pool as a top challenge, followed by labors costs and governmental legislation. When addressing legislative and regulatory concerns, each channel cites a different pain point. For restaurants, it’s minimum wage and the rage behind the $15-per-hour campaign. For noncommercial foodservice, Obamacare has been particularly costly. For convenience stores, even with the Durbin Amendment, the top concern remains credit-card swipe fees.
Retailers are upbeat about the future of food. True, menus are changing, new flavors are flowing and consumer demands are greater. But nearly three-quarters of operators surveyed are optimistic about their future food fortune. This includes 84% of retailers, 74% of restaurants and nearly 70% of noncommercial operators.
In considering how consumer needs have changed, Westra said customers were once more locked in on food whenever they want it. Today, it’s about food wherever they want it. Portability, third-party deliveries and mobile technology are rapidly evolving both when and where hungry patrons purchase their snacks and meals.
Learn more about foodservice across restaurants, c-stores and non-commercial segments in Winsight’s 2016 Foodservice Handbook.
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