According to Nation’s Restaurant News, “The year ahead could be a true turning point for the restaurant industry should expectations from research firm Technomic Inc. play out as expected.”
“The Chicago-based research firm expects total U.S. foodservice sales to increase 1.7 percent from 2010 on a nominal basis, and dip just 0.3 percent on a real basis, when factoring out menu price inflation. Nominal growth assumes a menu price inflation rate of 1.5 percent for 2010 and 2 percent for 2011.”
“The results, which include expectations of nominal positive growth across all restaurant segments, would be the best growth numbers since 2008, according to Technomic research. The 2011 forecast would also bury the industry’s performance in 2009, which included a nominal sales decline of 3.7 percent and a real growth decline of 6.9 percent, and was the worst performance on record since at least 1981, when Technomic’s data begins.”
