U.S. restaurant industry will end 2012 with visits flat, reports NPD
A promising start to 2012 for the U.S. restaurant industry followed by not-so-promising spring and summer quarters combined for a lackluster, yet stable, industry, finds The NPD Group, a global information company in Chicago. The 2012 summer (July, August and September) ended on a weaker note than it started with visits flat compared to same period last year, according to NPD’s foodservice market research. Visits were up 2% in August, but declined in September. NPD forecasts that the restaurant industry will end 2012 with visits flat and spending up 2%.
When consumers did visit restaurants in the summer, they chose quick-service restaurants (QSRs). As a result, the segment realized traffic gains of 1%, according to NPD’s CREST, which continually tracks the foodservice industry based on consumer reporting of more than 400,000 visits to foodservice outlets a year. QSR coffee/donut/bagel, fast casual, retail and Mexican chain concepts all fared especially well in the summer months. Visits to QSR hamburger concepts, which had been an industry driver in recent quarters, were flat in the quarter compared to the same quarter in 2011.