Hopeful isn't a term you'd immediately apply to foodservice operators. Practical? Yes. Realistic and wary too. But hopeful? For this group of hardened business people, it just sounds so … soft.
And yet, despite a confluence of challenges pushing back at them, foodservice operators remain strong, steadfast and actually pretty hopeful—even optimistic.
So say the results of the State of Foodservice survey, conducted in January and February of this year by CSP, Convenience Store Products, FoodService Director and Restaurant Business magazines.
Generated from nearly 600 qualified survey respondents, the results provide a status report of where we are and a forecast for where we expect to go from here.
The study tells the story of the commercial and non-commercial foodservice industries through the eyes of the operator, and each segment has its own narrative arc.
Convenience-store respondents reflect an evolution, with seven in 10 operators making food on site, one in 10 offering made-to-order smoothies and 43% preparing sandwiches to order. But it also reveals a focused and realistic operator, one who understands that breakfast and dispensed regular coffee are the foundations for growth. And while food and labor costs may be tough, getting the right people and products in place is still the biggest hurdle in becoming true foodservice players.
The quick-service and fast-casual operators in the survey, while more optimistic this year vs. last (25% expecting business to improve greatly in the year to come vs. 17% in 2014), are weighed down by the pressures of commodity costs and labor. They are looking to specialty drinks such as smoothies and coffee for sales growth, yet they see more opportunity in stalwart day-parts lunch and dinner than the once-contentious breakfast hour. While competition from retail is escalating, the vast majority still consider other restaurants their biggest competitive threat.
With tight budgets and a shallow labor pool, non-commercial operators are less likely to see sales growth opportunities in any one menu item or day-part, and yet just 3% believe their business will decline in the year to come. To combat stagnation, they are looking beyond traditional realms to capture more guests outside of their campus or hospital walls.
As you explore the following pages, you’ll find quotes from respondents about their biggest challenges and opportunities. We’ve also identified statistically significant outliers amongst the segments, and we tie it all together with 10 big takeaways.
Some notes on the data:
- All respondents make or influence purchasing/menu decisions related to foodservice in their company/operation.
- To mirror the rest of the Foodservice Handbook, the results presented for this research focus on the three core foodservice business types: retail, restaurant and non-commercial. Data on operations within these segments are noted if there are significant differences.
- All significant differences reported in this data are at the 90% level of confidence.
- All c-store respondents offer foodservice in all or some of their locations.
Dive in, and witness the pragmatic optimism that is the state of our industry.
Cover Story Table of Contents
SURVEY DEMOGRAPHICS
MENU TRENDS
DAY-PART OPPORTUNITIES
EQUIPMENT AND EXECUTION
OPERATOR CHALLENGES
COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
Number of locations (c-stores and restaurants only)
| C-stores (mean: 310) | C-stores with foodservice (mean: 246) | Restaurants (mean: 166) | |
| 1 location | 40% | 44% | 21% |
| 2-10 locations | 26% | 25% | 38% |
| 11-99 locations | 16% | 13% | 29% |
| 100 or more locations | 18% | 18% | 12% |
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