CHICAGO —Catering to the growing number of consumers choosing to eat and entertain at home is a largely underserved sales opportunity for restaurants, according to a new report from consulting firm Technomic.
While the recession has taken a considerable toll on restaurant-based private parties and business catering for corporate lunches or meetings—for instance, sandwich chain Così said catering sales plummeted 27.5 percent in its second quarter ended June 29—the restaurant industry has a $33.3 billion opportunity to grow consumer catering sales, Technomic found. —Catering to the growing number of consumers choosing to eat and entertain at home is a largely underserved sales opportunity for restaurants, according to a new report from consulting firm Technomic.
Technomic principal Melissa Wilson said the Chicago-based firm was surprised that the potential for providing catered food to consumers’ homes was this large. As the recession continues to drive people to their homes for entertainment, she said, restaurants need to follow them there. —Catering to the growing number of consumers choosing to eat and entertain at home is a largely underserved sales opportunity for restaurants, according to a new report from consulting firm Technomic.
“This is where your customers are,” Wilson said. “They used to use restaurants as social venues, but now they’re entertaining at home. They’ve told us they plan to continue doing so because they’re enjoying socializing with friends at each other’s homes. In fact, 40 percent of consumers say they expect to entertain at home more often over the coming year.” —Catering to the growing number of consumers choosing to eat and entertain at home is a largely underserved sales opportunity for restaurants, according to a new report from consulting firm Technomic.
The study, titled “POP: Parties Off Premise,” was based on a nationwide survey of 1,000 consumers who had catered a social event in the past 60 days with food from a restaurant. Technomic also interviewed between 15 and 20 restaurant operators for insights to include in the study. —Catering to the growing number of consumers choosing to eat and entertain at home is a largely underserved sales opportunity for restaurants, according to a new report from consulting firm Technomic.
Among the other key findings related to consumer catering: Restaurants already lead the way in catering to consumers in their homes, with $23 billion in sales, or 69 percent of the total market. Consumers told Technomic they are just as likely to buy food from restaurants as they are from other food retailers when hosting social gatherings at home. —Catering to the growing number of consumers choosing to eat and entertain at home is a largely underserved sales opportunity for restaurants, according to a new report from consulting firm Technomic.
However, not all restaurant companies are as bullish about catering to residential customers. —Catering to the growing number of consumers choosing to eat and entertain at home is a largely underserved sales opportunity for restaurants, according to a new report from consulting firm Technomic.
Lee Greer, director of brand strategy for Jason’s Deli, points out that the recession has battered all restaurant customers, whether they’re ordering food for work or for home. —Catering to the growing number of consumers choosing to eat and entertain at home is a largely underserved sales opportunity for restaurants, according to a new report from consulting firm Technomic.
“The residential consumer is under as much financial strain as a business consumer,” Greer said. “I’m not sure how much growth potential there really is there.” —Catering to the growing number of consumers choosing to eat and entertain at home is a largely underserved sales opportunity for restaurants, according to a new report from consulting firm Technomic.
Beaumont, Texas-based Jason’s Deli has a diverse catering menu, Greer said, and the residential customer has been a component of the chain’s catering plans for a long time. However, Greer declined to disclose the percentage of catering sales attributed to businesses and those attributed to residential customers. —Catering to the growing number of consumers choosing to eat and entertain at home is a largely underserved sales opportunity for restaurants, according to a new report from consulting firm Technomic.
Several other sandwich and bakery-cafe chains declined to comment about their catering strategies or did not return phone calls by press time. —Catering to the growing number of consumers choosing to eat and entertain at home is a largely underserved sales opportunity for restaurants, according to a new report from consulting firm Technomic.
Wilson said Technomic couldn’t quantify the growth potential of consumers’ preference for restaurants over other food retailers because this first report has no prior comparable data. Moreover, she said, nearly all restaurants that include catering as a line item in their financial records don’t distinguish between sales of catered meals to consumers or businesses. —Catering to the growing number of consumers choosing to eat and entertain at home is a largely underserved sales opportunity for restaurants, according to a new report from consulting firm Technomic.
Technomic also found that broader shifts in consumer behavior make consumer catering a year-round sales growth opportunity, not just at the holidays, when such consumer catering activity usually spikes. —Catering to the growing number of consumers choosing to eat and entertain at home is a largely underserved sales opportunity for restaurants, according to a new report from consulting firm Technomic.
Deerfield, Ill.-based Così was not the only bakery-cafe chain to attribute a slip in same-store sales to weak catering numbers. In reporting a 0.7-percent decline in same-store sales for its second quarter ended June 30, Panera said continued softness in its catering sales negatively impacted the company’s average-check growth. —Catering to the growing number of consumers choosing to eat and entertain at home is a largely underserved sales opportunity for restaurants, according to a new report from consulting firm Technomic.
The operators interviewed for Technomic’s study tended to derive around 10 percent of sales from catering, Wilson said, but restaurants could positively impact their bottom lines with slightly smaller investments in that aspect of the business. —Catering to the growing number of consumers choosing to eat and entertain at home is a largely underserved sales opportunity for restaurants, according to a new report from consulting firm Technomic.
“No question, we found that when operators put resources against it and say, ‘We’re in this [segment of the business],’ they definitely gain traction,” Wilson said. —Catering to the growing number of consumers choosing to eat and entertain at home is a largely underserved sales opportunity for restaurants, according to a new report from consulting firm Technomic.
As with everything, she added, catering sales is a share game, but restaurants have a potential advantage over competitors such as wholesale clubs and grocery stores because of inherent convenience aspects, such as curbside carryout and dedicated pickup windows.— [email protected] —Catering to the growing number of consumers choosing to eat and entertain at home is a largely underserved sales opportunity for restaurants, according to a new report from consulting firm Technomic.