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This chapter presents information on foodservice outlets—facilities
that serve meals and snacks for immediate consumption
on site (food away from home)—beginning with an
examination of the size of this growing market and the
major market segments such as fast food and full-service
outlets. Next, recent issues in the foodservice industry
are identified, including diet quality, nutrition labeling,
and holding down costs.
A Large and Growing Market
The foodservice industry is nearly equal in size to food
retailing:
- The food marketing system, including food service
and food retailing, supplied about $1.24
trillion worth of food in 2010.
- Of this total, $594
billion was supplied by foodservice facilities.
Commercial foodservice establishments accounted for the
bulk of food-away-from-home expenditures in 2010.
This category includes full-service restaurants, fast
food outlets, caterers, some cafeterias, and other places
that prepare, serve, and sell food to the general public
for a profit. Some are located within facilities that
are not primarily engaged in dispensing meals and snacks,
such as lodging places, recreational facilities, and retail
stores.
Schools and nursing homes are types of non-commercial
foodservice establishments. Such establishments are often
called "institutional" foodservice facilities.
Full-service and fast food restaurants—the two
largest segments of the commercial foodservice market—account
for about 77
percent of all food-away-from-home sales. Full-service
establishments have waitstaff, and, perhaps, other amenities
such as ceramic dishware, nondisposable utensils, and
alcohol service. In contrast, fast food restaurants use
convenience as a selling point; they have no waitstaff,
menus tend to be limited, and dining amenities are relatively
sparse.
Over the past few decades, the market for fast food
has grown more rapidly than that for food in full-service
restaurants. As part of their growth strategy, fast food
companies built more outlets closer to consumers’
homes and work places to make it more convenient for consumers
to purchase meals and snacks. Many restaurant companies
opened outlets in nontraditional locations such as department
stores. In addition to convenience, a household's demand
for food-away-from-home is affected by its income and
demographic characteristics (see The
Demand for Food Away From Home: Full-Service or Fast Food?).
Any shift in market share between fast food and full-service
restaurants could influence the mix of foods and services
offered by both types of restaurants. For example, if
trends favor full-service restaurants, the market could
shift to include more full-service restaurants that offer
a wider range of menu selections and dining amenities.
In response, fast food restaurants might introduce comparable
foods and services.
Recent Issues
Diet Quality
Food away from home is increasingly important to the
American diet. The rising consumption of meals and snacks
at food service establishments reflects a growing demand
among consumers for a variety of foods, convenience, and
the entertainment value associated with eating out. However,
restaurant foods, on average, tend to be higher in calories
and lower in some key nutrients than foods prepared at
home (see The Impact of
Food Away From Home on Adult Diet Quality; Let’s
Eat Out: Americans Weigh Taste, Convenience, and Nutrition;
and Away-From-Home Foods
Increasingly Important to Quality of American Diet).
A welcome sign is that restaurants are now offering more
healthful choices for nutrition-conscious consumers. Eating
out was long associated with eating more lettuce and potatoes,
but less of other types of vegetables and fruits, such
as grapes, apples, and citrus. Now, even fast food chains
have added vegetable salads and fruit-based items to their
menus (see Understanding
Fruit and Vegetable Choices: Economic and Behavioral Influences).
Nutrition Labeling
Many State and municipal governments, including New York
City, have passed laws that require chain restaurants
to provide caloric content and other nutritional information
at the point of sale. In 2010, the Federal government
moved to establish a uniform, national standard—foodservice
establishments that are part of a chain of 20 or more
locations under the same name will be required to disclose
the number of calories in standard menu items adjacent
to the name on the menu in a clear and conspicuous manner.
Other nutritional information may be provided upon request
in writing. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is formulating
these regulations. (see Will Calorie Labeling in Restaurants Make a Difference? and Nutrition Labeling in the Food-Away-From-Home Sector: An Economic Assessment).
Some restaurants were already providing nutritional information before State and municipal governments passed mandatory labeling requirements. Subway Restaurants, for example, lists the caloric content of many of its sandwiches
on drink containers. Burger King and McDonald's voluntarily
provide similar information on the back of place mats,
on posters, in pamphlets, or online.
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