NEW YORK -- As Americans continue to consume mass quantities of prepared meals, the lines between foodservice providers and retailers have become increasingly complicated to define, according to Foodservice & Retail: The Blurring of the Channels, a new report from market research publisher Packaged Facts, a division of MarketResearch.com.
Although Americans eat 70 billion meals from more than 870,000 foodservice establishments a year, Packaged Facts concluded that takeout sales, which have been growing at 6% to 8% annually, have caused a tremendous [image-nocss] shift in the way both retailers and foodservice providers do business. With American households taking out an average of 118 meals per year, up by 64% over 20 years ago, both retail and foodservice providers are scrambling to capitalize on what's becoming more than a niche market.
As the trend of cobranding and partnering between retailers and foodservice providersparticularly convenience stores and restaurantscontinues to explode, we'll continue to see an upward swing in the takeout business as consumers find it easier to get restaurant-quality foods close to home, said Don Montuori, publisher of Packaged Facts. In this regard, we'll continue to see the lines between retail and foodservice continue to blur as both sides try to keep their foot in this very lucrative sector of the food market.
The report examines the undeniable movement between restaurants, supermarkets and c-stores as they striveindependently and togetherto win over more takeout customers through better packaging, easier availability and signature recipe items that keep consumers coming back.
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