- Contents
- *Scope and Themes
- What you need to know
- Definition
- Data sources
- Sales data
- Consumer survey data
- Abbreviations and terms
- Abbreviations
- Terms
What you need to know
This report focuses on consumer attitudes and behavior with respect to dining out at full-service and limited-service restaurants. In addition to exploring current tendencies and trends, it also reveals what consumer dining-out plans are for 2015. This report builds on the analysis presented in Mintel’s Dining Out: A 2014 Look Ahead, as well as the January 2013, 2012, and 2011 reports of the same title.
Definition
This report focuses on the full- and limited-service foodservice segments. The market-size estimates in this report cover full-service restaurants, limited-service restaurants, and other limited-service eating places. These are defined below.
Full-service restaurants are establishments with waiter/waitress service, in which customers order and are served while seated. They may also sell alcoholic beverages and offer carry-out services.
Limited-service eating places include the following:
Limited-service restaurants - Establishments providing food services where customers usually select and order items and pay before dining. Food/drink may be consumed on-premise, offered as carry-out, or delivered to the customer's location. Some also sell alcoholic beverages. Excludes snack and non-alcoholic beverage bars (see below).
Cafeterias, buffets, and grill buffets – These places sell food and beverages for immediate consumption using cafeteria-style or buffet serving equipment, such as steam tables, refrigerated areas, display grills, and self-service non-alcoholic beverage dispensing equipment, with patrons selecting items on display in a continuous cafeteria line or from buffet stations.
Snack and non-alcoholic beverage bars – These concepts primarily sell a specialty snack, such as ice cream or cookies, or primarily offer non-alcoholic beverages, such as coffee or juices, for consumption on or near the premises. They may carry and sell a combination of snack, non-alcoholic beverages, and other related products (eg coffee beans, mugs, coffee makers), but generally promote and sell a unique snack or non-alcoholic beverage.
Sales data
The Market Size and Forecast, and Segment Performance information contained in this report is based on the U.S. Census Bureau (Annual Retail Trade Survey), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates, and National Restaurant Association’s "Restaurant Forecast 2014," with the forecast developed by Mintel.
Consumer survey data
For the purposes of this report, Mintel commissioned exclusive consumer research through GMI to explore consumer attitudes and behaviors toward dining out in 2015. Mintel was responsible for the survey design, data analysis, and reporting. Fieldwork was conducted in October 2014 among a sample of 2,000 adults aged 18+ with access to the internet.
Mintel selects survey respondents by gender, age, household income, and region so that they are proportionally representative of the US adult population using the internet. Mintel also slightly over-samples, relative to the population, respondents that are Hispanic or Black to ensure an adequate representation of these groups in our survey results and to allow for more precise parameter estimates from our reported findings. Please note that Mintel surveys are conducted online and in English only. Hispanics who are not online and/or do not speak English are not included in the survey results.
While race and Hispanic origin are separate demographic characteristics, Mintel often compares them to each other. Please note that the responses for race (White, Black, Asian, Native American, or other race) will overlap those that also are Hispanic, because Hispanics can be of any race.
Abbreviations
The following is a list of abbreviations used in this report:
| BLS | Bureau of Labor Statistics |
| CDC | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |
| CPI | Consumer Price Index |
| DPI | Disposable Personal Income |
| FDA | Food and Drug Administration |
| FSR | Full Service Restaurant |
| LSR | Limited-service Restaurant |
| NRA’s RPI | National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index |
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Terms
The following terms are used in this report:
| Chain | Multiunit foodservice concepts operating under a single brand name, such as McDonald’s or Pizza Hut. A restaurant chain consists of two or more restaurants owned by one person or company. Typically all restaurants in a chain have similar décor and serve the same food. |
| Consumer unit | Defined per the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) as either: 1) All members of a particular household who are related by blood, marriage, adoption, or other legal arrangements; 2) A financially independent person living alone or sharing a household with others, or living as a roomer in a private home or lodging house, or residing in permanent living quarters in a hotel or motel; or 3) Two or more people living together who pool their incomes to make joint expenditure decisions. Financial independence is determined by the three major expense categories: housing, food, and other living expenses. To be considered financially independent, a respondent must be able to provide at least two of the three major expense categories. |
| Fast casual | A hybrid segment of fast food and casual dining, combining the convenience of limited service with the ambience and quality of full service. Defining features include check averages of $6-9; décor that is more sophisticated than a quick-service restaurant (QSR); and food prepared to order, with customization of ingredients by patron being the norm. |
| Fast food | Used interchangeably with QSR. |
| Foodservice | All places that prepare food outside the home are included as part of the foodservice industry, including food operations in supermarkets, schools, hospitals, factories, and prisons. Restaurants make up the largest part of the foodservice industry. |
| Franchise | In most franchise agreements, a restaurant owner grants another person or company the right to use the name of his/her restaurant. This right also includes the use of the original owner’s patented products, building designs, and trademarks. In return, the original owner receives a fee. In addition, the franchisee usually pays a percentage of the restaurant’s income to the original owner. |
| Full-service restaurant | Establishments that provide table service. Food is ordered at the table and is paid for at the end of the meal. The segment comprises several subsegments, differentiated primarily by check size. These include family/midscale restaurants and casual dining restaurants. |
| Independent | A single restaurant that is not part of a chain. |
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Generations are discussed within this report, and they are defined as:
| World War II | The generation born in 1932 or before. In 2015, members of this generation are aged 83 or older. |
| Swing Generation | The generation born between 1933 and 1945. In 2015, members of the Swing Generation are between the ages of 70 and 82. |
| Baby Boomers | The generation born between 1946 and 1964. In 2015, Baby Boomers are between the ages of 51 and 69. |
| Generation X | The generation born between 1965 and 1976. In 2015, Generation Xers are between the ages of 39 and 50. |
| Millennials* | The generation born between 1977 and 1994. In 2015, Millennials are between the ages of 21 and 38. |
| iGeneration | The generation born from 1995 to 2007. In 2015, members of iGen are aged 8 to 20. |
| Emerging Generation | The newest generation began in 2008, as the annual number of births declined sharply with the recession. In 2015, members of this as-yet-unnamed generation are younger than 8. |
* also known as Generation Y or Echo Boomers
In order to provide an inflation-adjusted price value for markets, Mintel uses the CPI to deflate current prices. The CPI is defined as follows:
| CPI | The Consumer Price Index is a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services. The CPI and its components are typically used to adjust other economic series for price changes and to translate these series into inflation-free dollars. Examples of series adjusted by the CPI include retail sales, hourly and weekly earnings, and components of the national income and product accounts. In addition, and in Mintel reports, the CPI is used as a deflator of the value of the consumer’s dollar to find its purchasing power. The purchasing power of the consumer's dollar measures the change in the value to the consumer of goods and services that a dollar will buy at different dates. The CPI is generally the best measure for adjusting payments to consumers when the intent is to allow consumers to purchase, at today’s prices, a market basket of goods and services equivalent to one that they could purchase in an earlier period. It is also the best measure to use to translate retail sales into real or inflation-free dollars. Based on Bureau of Labor Statistics definition. |
