FH1117

FROM THE DESK OF ROBERT CARTER
GLOBAL
INFLUENCES
Foodservice
traffic grows in
every global market
outside of U.S.
in second quarter
iSTOCK.COM/PESHKOV [GLOBE]
While you’ve likely heard a lot
about “anemic growth” and
“declining traffic counts”
over the last few years, you
may be surprised to hear
that global foodservice traffic increased in
every major market outside of the U.S. in the
second quarter of 2017.
This finding comes from a recent report
by The NPD Group, which continually
tracks consumer use of foodservice outlets
in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France,
Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Korea,
Russia, Spain and the United States.
Interestingly, but perhaps not surprisingly,
the quick-service segment and delivery services
were key drivers of global visit growth during
this period as consumers globally adopted
many of the same consumption habits we see
in Canada.
The growth of technology — and specifically
mobile — has continued to change the
way consumers shop for food and the way
they dine out. The use of digital technology
to place orders has been growing rapidly for
several years, not only in Canada, but around
the world. And while the “digital door” currently
represents only two per cent of all
foodservice and fast-moving consumer-goods
orders in Canada, it continues to be a significant
visit motivator, as nearly 10 per cent of
consumers claim to have been influenced by
a social-media platform before making a restaurant
choice. In fact, in every major market
The NPD Group tracks, virtually all growth
in the past three years has come from mobile
or internet services. Furthermore, nearly
all global foodservice-traffic growth came
through the quick-service restaurant (QSR)
segment, where consumers have responded
positively to advantageous pricing, aggressive
unit expansion and advertising of QSR chains
and outlets.
Looking outside of North America,
European markets continued solid, if unspectacular,
recovery while Brazil and Russia —
both mired in recession in recent years — also
rebounded slightly. Even Korea posted a solid
traffic gain.
When looking at dayparts, visits during
the breakfast dayart are growing broadly, but
it’s still a relatively small daypart in terms
of traffic share in most global markets and
can’t drive overall growth like other meals
can. Lunch traffic did increase in Brazil,
China, Russia and Spain, but declined in all
other countries. Visits at dinner were flat or
up in most countries, with the exception of
Australia, Canada and the U.S.
However, perhaps the most interesting
finding comes out of the U.S., where total
visits to restaurants and foodservice outlets
declined by one per cent — a loss of 94.5 million
visits in the quarter compared to a year
ago. While this finding is clearly significant to
U.S. operators, it should not be overlooked by
those in Canada, given that the foodservice
industry is a bellwether for the economy at
large and our neighbours to the south tend
to have a significant impact on our economic
well-being. While the U.S. has experienced
seven-plus years of strong economic growth
and stability, the decline in visitation traffic
may indicate a slowdown in consumer confidence
that may be mirrored in Canada should
the nearly decade-long bull market in the U.S.
come to an end.
However, until that time comes, we can
(and should) focus on some of the bright
spots in the marketplace — after all, it’s been
a while since we’ve seen such broad-based
traffic growth across the globe, which makes
future quarters promising. FH
Robert Carter is executive
director, Foodservice Canada,
with the NPD Group Inc. He
can be reached at robert.
carter@npd.com for questions
regarding the latest
trends and their impact on
the foodservice business.
FOODSERVICEANDHOSPITALITY.COM
NOVEMBER 2017 FOODSERVICE AND HOSPITALITY 15