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Why Q1 may have been a mirageWhy Q1 may have been a mirage

Holly Petre, Assistant Digital Editor

May 31, 2023

 

Consumers started trading down at the end of 2022 in response to higher menu pricing. Now, they’re taking things up a notch – more aggressively seeking deals and discounts to use restaurants.

New data from Circana finds that consumer use of deals at restaurants grew by 8% year-over-year in Q1. Consumers’ inflation fatigue is also evidenced by April’s slowing sales growth – the industry’s weakest performance since July 2022 and its second-softest month of growth in over two years, according to Black Box Intelligence.

In other words, consumers are proving they simply don’t want to pay as much for eating out as they have been doing for quite some time, including for the traditionally lower-price point quick-service segment, where menu prices remain 8.2% higher over last year.

About the Author

Holly Petre

Assistant Digital Editor

Holly Petre is a digital editor for Nation’s Restaurant News as well as the host of NRN’s podcast, Extra Serving, and producer for Informa Restaurant and Food Group’s other three podcasts, One On One by Food Management, Off the Shelf with SN and In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn. Holly holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in Sculpture, fibers and Material Studies and Ceramics from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. A native New Yorker, Holly enjoys her place on staff as the resident pop-culture expert and millennial with a sassy attitude and great sense of style.

Holly Petre’s work on Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality often covers marketing and trends, either aimed-at or examined-through the millennial mindset. Holly is responsible for introducing TikTok and Twitch to NRN and RH readers as well as explaining terms like “Karen” to staff and readers alike. She also spends her time on staff trying not to make every headline a pun.

Holly Petre hasn’t spoken at any events or on panels, but she is readily available with a killer shoe wardrobe and several witty quips.

 

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