Freaky Facts and Restaurant Trends Driving the Food Industry
Updated: Mar 24, 2020
As “healthy eating” continues to rise in popularity, dine-in restaurants, their fast food counterparts, and even convenience stores are jumping on the bandwagon.
Let’s explore some fun and interesting facts about our favorite eateries and c-stores to both see what may be propelling this trend toward healthier options and learn a few wild tidbits about an industry we all take part in nearly every day.
Restaurants/Bars
1. Selling food for profit goes back to ancient city street vendors who sold bread and wine, with the modern-day restaurant concept traced back to roadside inns of the Middle Ages.
2. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the average American household spends just over $3,100 eating out each year—$258 per house/month—with Millennials spending 44% of their food budget at restaurants.
3. 61% of diners say they’re making healthier choices dining out than they were two years ago.
4. Until 2011, Russia classed beer and any alcoholic beverages under 10% ABV as soft drinks.
5. An experiment in France concluded that loud music can make patrons drink both more and faster.
Fast Food
1. With annual U.S. revenues at $110 billion and a consumption rate unchanged for 15 years, the Pew Research Center states 50 million Americans (1 in 7 people) eat fast food daily.
2. Exposed to 3-5 mouthwatering fast food ads per day, it’s no wonder that 34% of children between ages 2 and 19 eat fast food every day.
3. In a survey of 7,000 people in 6 countries, McDonald’s arches were identified by 88% of those surveyed, while the Christian cross was only identified by 54%.
4. A typical fast food meal contains 37% of your daily caloric, 42.6% of your carb, 33.6% of your daily fat, and 15.4% of your daily protein intake.
Convenience Stores
1. Making up one-third of our country’s retail business, the U.S. boasts more than 144,000 convenience stores.
2. With fuel and tobacco revenues falling, foodservice sales are increasingly becoming the most profitable category for c-stores, accounting for 22.6% of in-store purchases in 2018.
3. According to the Partnership for a Healthier America, 53% of consumers said they would visit c-stores more often if they offered healthier foods.
4. It’s estimated that convenience stores sell roughly 11 million cups of coffee every day.
Eating Food Versus Working with Food
From the outside looking in, it may be challenging to visualize the importance that each role and component plays in delivering that top-notch restaurant experience that brings you back.
So we’ve put together some thought-provoking facts that may make you rethink what you’re consuming and some behind the scenes insights that might change how you perceive the person preparing and/or serving your food.
Curious Food for Thought
· Although, calorie for calorie, healthy foods cost up to 10 times as much as junk foods, the
processing of government-subsidized commodity crops (corn, wheat, and soybeans) into high-calorie, low nutrient fast foods, snack foods and beverages is more lucrative for food companies than fresh fruit or vegetable items.
· Boasting a “healthier” reputation, many assume that sports drinks and vitamin waters are better for you than sugary sodas. However, these supposedly healthier options are often high in both sugar and calories.
Behind the Kitchen Curtain
· Restaurants boast flexible hours that work well for many, but the hours on your feet and in the kitchen heat can be grueling on the body, while nighttime shifts can affect sleeping schedules and social lives.
· A restaurant will rarely have all their menu ingredients in stock (except on delivery days), resulting in disgruntled customers having to place substitute orders.
· Like everyone else, restaurant staffs look forward to quitting time. Thus, it’s considered a major faux pas to show up 15 minutes before closing time.
Tradition Meets Innovation
Founded in 1937, SandenVendo America, Inc. is a Dallas-based manufacturer of high-quality, environmentally-sound commercial refrigeration and heating equipment.
We take pride in our 80-year heritage as an American-made manufacturer, our customer is always first approach, and our continuous commitment to providing seamless product installations and superior ongoing service, monitoring, and maintenance.
To learn more about SandenVendo’s tradition of innovation, head over to our website today.