U.S. restaurant chain transaction declines continued to improve for the fourth consecutive week in the week ending May 10 as more states reopen and America’s mothers are honored with a meal they didn’t need to cook. Total restaurant customer transactions were down 23 percent compared to a 26 percent decline the prior week, reports The NPD Group. Full service […]

Lingering tailwinds from government relief payments and the lifting of dine-in restrictions in states like Georgia, Florida, and Texas helped to improve U.S. restaurant chain transaction declines in the week ending May 3, reports The NPD Group. For the week ending May 3 total transactions were down 26 percent from year ago compared to a 32 percent decline […]

Over the last five years, solo diners, or parties of one, have increased their share of restaurant visits while other party sizes have declined, reports The NPD Group. Last year solo diners represented 35 percent of restaurant visits whereas parties of two represented 27 percent of visits, parties of three, 14 percent, parties of four, 12 percent, […]

There is a lot of buzz around meal kit delivery services, like Blue Apron and HelloFresh, but the buzz may be greater than those who currently use the kits, finds The NPD Group, a leading global information company. Trial of meal kits is still relatively low with 3 percent of the U.S. adult population (18 and […]

Last week’s release of a World Health Organization study showing a link between processed and red meat consumption and cancer raises the question: Will consumers reduce their intake of these foods?  If history repeats itself, the study will have little impact on the consumption of these foods, according to leading global information company The NPD […]

There is a time and place for just about everything, even snacking. A recent study by The NPD Group, a leading global information company, finds that consumers’ tastes for savory and sweet snacks is determined by the time of day, and better-for-you snack consumption is predicated more by place. When looking at the snack-oriented food […]

Although consumers order a beverage 70 percent of the time when visiting restaurants and other foodservice outlets, beverage orders have declined 4 percent or 2 billion servings over a five-year period, finds The NPD Group, a leading global information company. Consumers’ changing tastes and cost consciousness are behind declines, finds a new NPD foodservice market […]

Breakfast is the only restaurant daypart with sustained visit growth over the last several years and as a result, classic foodservice breakfast fare, like bacon, breakfast sandwiches, and pancakes, are also growing, reports The NPD Group, a leading global information company. Case shipments of bacon, eggs, and pancakes from broad-line distributors to foodservice outlets have […]

A 3 percent drop in independent restaurant unit counts compared to year ago brought the total U.S. restaurant count down by one percent to 630,511 units, according to a census of U.S. commercial restaurant locations compiled in the spring and fall each year by The NPD Group, a leading global information company. The total restaurant […]

Lunch visits at foodservice outlets in several global markets improved for the second consecutive quarter, which marked a turn in a long-term trend of weak lunch around the world, reports The NPD Group, a leading global information company. Foodservice chains, which were the most resilient part of the market coming out of the global economic […]

Since the USDA has reported more than 160 cases involving three deadly strains of avian flu (bird flu) since December, consumers are expressing concerns about avian flu in regards to food safety, reports the NPD Group, a leading global information company. More than 50 percent of U.S. consumers say they have some level of concern […]

Sluggish restaurant traffic growth and stalled sales in the center aisles at grocery stores are evidence that U.S. consumers’ eating behaviors are evolving. The growing influence of Hispanics, Millennials going through life stages, aging boomers, smaller households, and the need for fresh and non-processed foods are among the factors driving the shift in what and […]

Visits to quick-service restaurants, which represent the bulk of global foodservice traffic, were more a reflection of consumer sentiment than each country’s economic state in the fourth quarter of last year, reports The NPD Group, a leading global information company. Visits grew in Australia, Canada, China, Great Britain, and United States where consumer confidence is […]

Millennials are the chosen generation for many marketers because of their sheer number and perceived buying power, but they are not a homogenous group and depending on their age and lifestyles, they use restaurants differently, according to a recently released report by The NPD Group, a leading global information company. For U.S. restaurants and foodservice […]

Hot sauce is hot right now, according to the NPD Group, a leading global information company. Fifty-six percent of households have hot sauce on hand in their kitchens, and sriracha, a relatively new Asian hot sauce, is already stocked in 9 percent of total U.S. households and 16 percent of households headed by someone under […]

U.S. foodservice consumers ate some 1.1 billion servings of bacon in the year ending April 2014, an increase in servings of 6 percent compared to a year ago, reports The NPD Group. Many only have eyes for pork bacon, which holds the bulk share of units and dollar volume shipped to restaurants and other foodservice outlets, […]

According to a recent report by The NPD Group, 11 percent of the population follows a gluten-free diet. But with an estimation that celiac disease, or gluten intolerance, affects only about 1 percent of the population, the National Institute of Health concluded that “most persons who were following a gluten-free diet did not have a […]