Table of Contents
Executive Summary
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- What parents want and why
- The issues
- Hyper-convenient packaged kids’ meal solutions pose competitive threat to dining out
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- Figure 1: Year-over-year changes in family dining behavior, November 2019
- Half of parents report increased preparation of food at home for their family
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- Figure 2: Year-over-year changes in family dining behavior, November 2019
- Kids’ meals remain unhealthy, and parents aren’t thrilled
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- Figure 3: Attitudes toward healthy menu items, December 2018
- The opportunities
- Parents rely most on fast food restaurants for prepared food for their families
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- Figure 4: Prepared food purchase locations, November 2019
- International kids’ menu items will appeal to influential parental demographics
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- Figure 5: Innovative family dining concepts, November 2019
- Growing off-premise business drives opportunity for family meals
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- Figure 6: Year-over-year changes in family dining behavior, November 2019
The Market – What You Need to Know
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- Adventurous eaters have rising influence
- Kid-friendly packaged goods and meal kits quickly emerge
- Lawmakers restrict kids’ meal options
Market Perspective
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- CPG and meal kits increasingly cater to convenience-oriented Millennial parents
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- Figure 7: New Savory Meatball kids’ meal from Yumble
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- Figure 8: New Kidfresh Waffles with hidden butternut squash
- Away-from-home spend outpaces at-home spend
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- Figure 9: Share of food expenditures for in-home food vs dining out, 2013-18
Market Factors
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- The majority of parents with kids under 18 are now Millennials
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- Figure 10: Households with own children under age 18, by age of householder, 2018
- Figure 11: Parental status by generation, November 2019
- Millennials are biggest international food consumers
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- Figure 12: Frequent international food eaters, by generation, November 2018
- Families are increasingly diverse
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- Figure 13: Population by race and Hispanic origin, 2014-24
- Some states, cities mandate kids’ meal nutrition changes
Key Trends – What You Need to Know
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- Entertain the family
- Kids options are getting more sophisticated
- But healthfulness at top chains still lags
What’s Working?
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- Marketing to families
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- Figure 14: McDonald’s The Secret Life of Pets 2 happy meal toys and McPlay games promoted on abcya.com, June 2019
- What’s next?
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- Figure 15: YouTube influencer Ryan of Ryan ToysReview channel helps relaunch Hardee’s kids’ meals, toys
- Off-premise family meal deals
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- Figure 16: Bertucci’s Bundles ad, September 2019
- Make it pint-sized
What’s Struggling?
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- Healthy kids’ options at top restaurant chains
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- Figure 17: Attitudes toward healthy menu items, December 2018
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- Figure 18: McDonald’s Facebook ad, November 2019
What’s Next?
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- Kid-themed restaurant pop-ups
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- Figure 19: Sesame Street restaurant pop-up in Singapore, September 2019
- International kids’ menu items
- Goodbye, plastic toys
- Mobile order-ahead and payment for full-service dine-in
The Consumer – What You Need to Know
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- Parents rely heavily on fast food to feed the family
- Parents make the dining decision, kids make the ordering decision
- Top kids’ menu items remain burgers, breaded chicken
Prepared Food Purchase Locations
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- Parents rely heavily on LSRs to feed their family
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- Figure 20: Prepared food purchase locations, by parents and general population, November 2019
- More moms than dads use retail prepared foods for family meal solutions
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- Figure 21: Prepared food purchase locations, by gender, November 2019
- Young parents source prepared foods for their family from a wider variety of locations
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- Figure 22: Prepared food purchase locations, by age, November 2019
- Asian parents drive family prepared foods purchases from club stores, fine dining
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- Figure 23: Prepared food purchase locations, by race and Hispanic origin, November 2019
Year-Over-Year Changes in Family Dining Behavior
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- Kid-friendly meal kits and packaged foods are growing threat to restaurants
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- Figure 24: Year-over-year changes in family dining behavior, November 2019
- Dads drive demand for convenient prepared family meal solutions
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- Figure 25: Year-over-year changes in family dining behavior, by gender, November 2019
- Young parents also drive growth of convenient prepared family meals
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- Figure 26: Year-over-year changes in family dining behavior, by age, November 2019
- Higher-income parents drive growth of restaurant usage, healthy kids’ options
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- Figure 27: Year-over-year changes in family dining behavior, by income, November 2019
Restaurant Visitation Motivators for Family Dining
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- Menu variety is top of mind for family dining occasions
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- Figure 28: Restaurant visitation motivators for family dining – NET any rank, November 2019
- Young parents prioritize kid-friendly options over menu variety and cuisine type
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- Figure 29: Restaurant visitation motivators for family dining – NET any rank, by age, November 2019
- Black parents overindex in preference for atmosphere, family meal deals
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- Figure 30: Restaurant visitation motivators for family dining – NET any rank, by race and Hispanic origin, November 2019
Kids’ Menu Item Consumption
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- Burgers are the most popular kids’ menu item
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- Figure 31: Kids’ menu item consumption, November 2019
- Young parents’ kids are most likely to order traditional kids’ menu items
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- Figure 32: Kids’ menu item consumption, by parent age, November 2019
- Asian and Hispanic parents’ children drive kids’ breakfast item purchases
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- Figure 33: Kids’ menu item consumption, by parent race and Hispanic origin, November 2019
Kids’ Beverage Item Consumption
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- Despite sugar backlash, juice remains the most popular kids’ beverage option
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- Figure 34: Kids’ beverage item consumption, November 2019
- Higher-income parents’ kids overindex in milk, water orders from kids’ menus
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- Figure 35: Kids’ beverage item consumption, by parent household income, November 2019
Family Dining Behaviors
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- Most families decide where to dine as a group
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- Figure 36: Family dining behaviors, November 2019
- Young parents tend to choose the food their child eats when dining out, since their children are younger
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- Figure 37: Family dining behaviors, by age, November 2019
- Black families are most likely to primarily dine out for special occasions
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- Figure 38: Family dining behaviors, by race and Hispanic origin, November 2019
- Parents are highly influential for the family dining decision
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- Figure 39: Family dining decision making, November 2019
Innovative Family Dining Concepts
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- Restaurants can appeal to kids with mobile app games
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- Figure 40: Innovative family dining concepts, November 2019
- Millennial parents drive interest in international kids’ options
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- Figure 41: Innovative family dining concepts, by age, November 2019
- Black parents drive interest in seafood options on kids’ menus
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- Figure 42: Innovative family dining concepts, by race and Hispanic origin, November 2019
- The majority of parents find smaller portioned adult entrées for kids and kid-friendly pop-ups appealing
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- Figure 43: Innovative family dining concepts, by TURF analysis, November 2019
Appendix – Data Sources and Abbreviations
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- Data sources
- Consumer survey data
- Direct marketing creative
- Abbreviations and terms
- Abbreviations
- Terms
Appendix – The Consumer
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- Figure 44: Percent of children who are obese, by age, 2015-16
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- Figure 45: Age of child living in the household, by parents’ age, November 2019
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- Figure 46: Race and Hispanic origin, by household income, November 2019
- TURF Analysis Methodology
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