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The 10 trends that helped the restaurant industry survive in 2020, according to the National Restaurant AssociationThe 10 trends that helped the restaurant industry survive in 2020, according to the National Restaurant Association

The survey of over 6,000 restaurant operators covers culinary trends, innovation, consumer preferences and more that kept some restaurants alive during COVID

Holly Petre, Assistant Digital Editor

January 14, 2021

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trends that helped restaurants survive 2020

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The National Restaurant Association (NRA) on Tuesday released a list of the top trends that kept restaurants in business during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

In 2020, the NRA estimated that the restaurant industry lost $240 billion due to the pandemic. As of January, 2 million restaurant industry employees are still out of work, according to the Department of Labor. And, foodservice was the sector with the most jobs lost in December 2020.

The trade group surveyed over 6,000 restaurant operators and 1,000 adults for consumer preferences to come up with the list of 10 trends.

Many of them are things Nation’s Restaurant News wrote about throughout 2020, including selling groceries (Just Salad’s Just Grocery, Panera, Subway), menu-trimming, comfort foods and the boom in off-premise dining.

The NRA also released a list of what owners said were the most popular items at both full-service and limited-service restaurants throughout the pandemic.

Full-service:

  1. Burgers

  2. Seafood items

  3. Pizza

  4. Steak

  5. Chicken items (excluding wings)

  6. Breakfast items

  7. Pasta

  8. Mexican food

  9. Sandwiches / Subs / Wraps

  10. Chicken wings

Limited service:

  1. Sandwiches / Subs / Wraps

  2. Pizza

  3. Burgers

  4. Chicken items (excluding wings)

  5. Ice cream / cookies / cakes

  6. Baked goods

  7. Breakfast items

  8. Mexican food

  9. Barbecue items

  10. Seafood items

See which trends kept restaurants afloat throughout 2020.

Read more about:

Subway

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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