The critical importance of loyalty members

In today’s crowded foodservice climate, offering a robust loyalty program is a must. Loyalty members visit more, spend more, and provide your business with vital insights into customer behaviour. Those were some of the key conclusions of the new Paytronix Loyalty Report 2022, which found that the top loyalty members are foundational to a restaurant’s […]

Indoor dining is back & customers want quality, rewards

Prices may be up, cost of living may be up, but indoor dining is nevertheless back on the menu big time. The recent TouchBistro 2022 Diner Trends Report released Wednesday and based on surveys conducted in June and July found that 44 per cent of consumers are now indoor dining at a restaurant at least […]

Fast-food chain apps reach record-breaking results

As the restaurant industry continues to battle inflation, more and more fast-food chains are looking to increase customer engagement, gain specific insights, and boost profits. While these goals are certainly not a new concept, studies show that fast-food chain app usage is growing in leaps and bounds. The top 10 quick-service apps in the U.S. […]

Consumers say plant-based diets are here to stay

How has the pandemic affected consumers and their everyday diets? A Packaged Facts consumer survey suggests that many consumers made the shift to plant-based diets during the pandemic. While this may have seemed like a temporary step, the survey shows that 30 per cent of participants are still eating more fruit and vegetables than they […]

People spend 40% of food budget on restaurant dining, suggests survey

While general inflation and the prices of gas and food are presenting challenging situations for consumers, a new survey suggests that restaurant dining remains a large part of people’s life. A recent Popmenu survey of over 1,000 U.S. consumers found that those consumers spend about 40 per cent of their individual or family food budgets on restaurants. […]

Home meal replacements increasingly a rival for restaurants

Restaurants will continue to face several challenges in the evolving post-pandemic landscape, and one of those is consumers exploring more ways to feed themselves at home. Market research firm Mintel’s report on Home Meal Replacement & Grocerants in Canada found that the prominence and importance of home meal replacements and grocerant concepts have grown in recent years, […]

Restaurant portion size complaints rising amid inflation

Restaurants across Canada, the U.S., and beyond are feeling the pinch of decades-high rates of inflation. That is manifesting itself in many ways, one of which — for many restaurants, at least — is smaller servings. But, if figures around portion size complaints are anything to go by, diners are noticing. A growing number of […]

Why do Canadians want to shop local?

“Shop local” has been a mantra for a while now, and a new survey from Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab (AAL) in partnership with Angus Reid has found that most Canadians feel that it is important that the products they see and buy at the grocery store are local. That sentiment is the strongest in Quebec, where […]

One of restaurants’ toughest tests? Attracting Gen Z diners

Capturing diners across all demographics has always been part of the challenge for restaurants. Attracting Gen Z is a unique test, particularly in the current economic and social climate. Gen Z have less disposable money and more competition for how to spend that money than perhaps any other generation in recent history. Throw in the […]

Complaints about short-staffed restaurants surging in 2022

New data from Yelp has shown that diners are returning to restaurants in droves, flocking to dining rooms in 2022 as the memory of heightened pandemic fears and restrictions fades. That has brought its own problems, though, as complaints about short-staffed restaurants have soared. The new state of the industry report found that customers have […]