After Three Quarters of Gain, Restaurant Traffic Slides

Source: The NPD Group, quarter ending June 2011

CHICAGO — Restaurant traffic slipped by 0.4 percent this Spring compared to April, May and June of last year.  According to market research firm The NPD Group, this temporarily halts the foodservice industry recovery that began in the third quarter of 2010.

"The consumer demand in the prior three quarters wasn't strong enough to overcome another bump in unemployment, rising gas and commodity prices, and low consumer confidence," says Bonnie Riggs, restaurant industry analyst, The NPD Group.  "The confidence they had in the latter part of last year and the beginning of this year was eroded by bad economic news."

According to NPD, midscale traffic declined by 4 percent and casual dining traffic declined by 2 percent compared to same time year ago. Fine dining, which had steep declines in 2009 and the first half of 2010, showed some growth in each of the past four quarters. Weakness remained prevalent in recreation, education, and business and industry sectors. Lodging and hospital foodservice visits were up in the spring compared to last spring.

NPD forecasts that the restaurant industry will close 2011 with a one percent gain in traffic, on par with 2009, but well below the peak years of 2007 and 2008.