August 12, 2020

Dining Out      Trends      Click Here for the full report! 

What we once knew as dining as usual has taken a drastic shift in the past months. Foodservice operators have been forced to think on their feet, quickly adapting and innovating to stay afloat. What trends in the restaurant space can carry over to prepared food and beverage and the grocery aisle? While the effects of the pandemic have negatively impacted the dining industry, it has also brought about innovation in foods, flavors and new ways of dining. From pandemic dining trends to consumer interest in everything from comfort food to spice to and better-for-you offerings, let’s take a look at how this new state of dining has impacted food and flavor trends.

Unexpected Changes

Consumer behaviors and the dining industry changed in what felt like overnight. Shelter-in-place, social distancing and work from home orders limited the extent to which consumers could dine in person, let alone follow common routines such as socializing with friends, picking up their morning coffee on the way to work, buying groceries and more.

From sales declines to food surpluses, the dining industry has been far from “business as usual” with sales down 67% year over year in April. Common dining food and drink such as beer and wine reached sales declines as high as 90% and 65% respectively.

The dining industry response? Adapt to change and innovate with new products, services, and ways of running business.

“Restaurant sales declined precipitously throughout the month of March, falling 78.3% from the week ending 8 March to the week ending 29 March. April sales were down 67.6% YoY.” – Iconoculture

“Due to restaurant and bar closures, distributed draft beer sales are down well over 90 percent, according to a BA report from earlier this month. And on-site sales for breweries—much of which comes out of their own tap lines—are down 65 percent on average.” – Food & Wine, April 2020

To continue reading, visit: https://www.fona.com/0820diningout/