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Analyzing the Great Trade Down and its implicationsAnalyzing the Great Trade Down and its implications

Holly Petre, Assistant Digital Editor

April 10, 2023

 

One quarter down for 2023 and we still don’t have a whole lot of certainty about the macroeconomic picture and its implications for the restaurant industry. Our crystal ball has displayed mixed signals for months (here and here, for instance) and there aren’t many indicators that’s going to change anytime soon.

What’s mixed, exactly? Well, on one hand, labor is improving for the industry and consumers have proven their willingness to access restaurants despite relentlessly higher menu prices. On the other, customers are getting anxious about bank turmoil and layoffs and higher interest rates and are continuing to pull back on discretionary spending. A recession is yet to be declared, though several signs are pointing aggressively in one’s direction.

Here, executive editor Alicia Kelso analyzes the latest on The Great Trade Down.

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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