NEW YORK -- College students, office dwellers and hospital employees and visitors alike are increasingly time-crunched and convenience-hungry, causing non-commercial operators to scale up their grab-and-go offerings.
According to Foodservice Director’s 2011 Portability Study, 79% of non-commercial operators offer grab-and-go menu items, up from 73% last year. All business & industry operators and 95% of college & university operators reported offering portable foods. Ninety-two percent of hospitals offer grab-and-go meals.
Among those operators who offer grab and go, an average of 22% of all foodservice revenue comes from these items. C&U operators said that one-quarter of their revenue comes from portable foods, followed by hospitals (23%), long-term care/senior living (22%), schools (19%) and B&I (18%).
Interestingly, these customers may like the convenience of grab and go, but they still prefer their portable food to be prepared to order. The three most popular grab-and-go items are salads from the salad bar (17% share of portable dollar sales volume), entrees off the service line (15%) and deli sandwiches (13%).
Rounding out the share of sales are beverages (13%), prewrapped, packaged foods (11%), prepackaged breakfast (11%), snacks (7%), desserts (6%), ready-to-go entrees and soups (4%) and breakfast to order (3%).
Following are more findings from the 2011 Portability Study:
- In the coming year, 51% of respondents say they expect revenue to increase and 44% say it will remain the same. For those operators expecting sales to grow, the average predicted rate of growth was 12%.
- Most respondents stated at least two reasons for the expected growth: Customers have less time to spend in the dining area (67%) and more customers are asking for these products (58%).
- For 36% of operators, an increase in customers will help build revenue, and 18% said that higher profits on prepackaged items will help build sales.
- For 16%, a decline in available seating will cause grab-and-go sales to rise. For those few operators (6%) who said they expect a decrease in grab-and-go sales, 36% said their customer base is shrinking, while 27% cited lower demand and/or a change in the way the operation is preparing and serving food.
- The most common types of packaging are simple plastic containers or wraps, used by 54% of operators, and clear-lidded salad bowls, used by 52%. For 46%, plastic clamshells are popular, followed by foam containers (45%), paper containers (35%), entree containers with clear lids that are not clamshells (34%) and biodegradable containers (30%). Only 6% said they use aluminum containers, and 2% said they offer packages with temperature indicators.
Click here for more information on Foodservice Director and its Portability Study.
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