Health on the Restaurant Menu: Foodservice Trends in the U.S.

Health on the Restaurant Menu: Foodservice Trends in the U.S. helps foodservice industry participants align their branding and menu development strategies with evolving consumer health perceptions and expectations; the quickly evolving health education landscape; and the effects of nationwide menu regulation.

The report does the following:

1. Identifies drivers and trends that have helped cause the industry to reflect on its role in addressing America’s health.

• This helps participants better understand new menu regulations and menu item trends.

2. Analyses health-related menu trends, including salt and added sugar reduction; healthy menu claim trend analysis; “mini” menu item trend analysis; fruit and vegetable menu trend analysis; and health & anti-health menu analysis of specific restaurants.

• This helps participants stay on top of menu development.

3. Draws from a variety of industry and academic research to help the restaurant industry gauge the effect and result of menu labeling legislation.

• This helps participants frame the impact of menu regulation on industry segments, major chains, and independent restaurant operators.

4. Analyses consumer attitudes toward diet food and health from the perspectives of their healthful propensities; not-so-healthful propensities; and knowledge, money & time.

• This helps participants understand shifting consumer health & wellness propensities and respond accordingly.

5. Creates and analyzes four consumer groups, each of which share common health-driven characteristics: Health First, Health Maintainers, Health Endorsers and Carefree Eaters. Each group isolates populations having distinct degrees of food health interest and distinct degrees of restaurant interaction. Data on restaurant frequency, brand usage, and presence of children are included.

• This helps industry participants target groups according to their healthful propensities, as well as to their restaurant loyalty, the effect of their having children, and their brand usage.

6. Studies the degree of importance restaurant goers ascribe to various food health attributes as applied to two distinct dining occasions: getting food for a “quick bite” and getting food for a “special occasion.”

• This helps participants shape health-driven strategies around occasions for use.

Coverage includes snack and beverage restaurant concepts, limited-service restaurants (QSR and fast casual), and full-service restaurants (family, casual and fine dining).