Special Reports

Winning Back Parties with Kids

For seven consecutive quarters, the restaurant industry has lost visits from parties with kids, leading industry sales and traffic into their current weakened state. This report enables restaurant operators and their suppliers to learn what is behind this change in visit patterns, gain perspective on why it has occurred, and understand what it will take to entice families with kids to visit restaurants more frequently.

Managing in Challenging Economic Times - Canada

This report examines the potential impact of economic change on the foodservice industry. Recently updated, the report now includes two waves of consumer data (July and November 2008) from a Fast Checks survey that measured Canadians' perception of the economy, concern over their personal income, and anticipated spending habits for over 20 key consumer categories, including restaurants and supermarkets. The report blends this direct consumer feedback with a comprehensive analysis of economic trends in the Canadian market and a review of 13 years of historical data from our exclusive CREST database.
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Consumers Speak Out About Value

Find out what value means to consumers beyond price when they visit foodservice establishments. The report covers restaurants, retail, and non-commercial outlets to determine how value perception differs by venue. Armed with this understanding of what value means will help restaurant operators develop strategies and programs that drive sales and traffic.
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Restaurant Industry . . . What To Expect When Economic Recovery Begins

This report provides a historical review of quarterly economic trends and consumer restaurant visit behavior during a recession and after a recession is officially declared to be over. Understanding how long it takes the restaurant industry to recover from a recession and who and what leads the industry out of a recession will help operators and their suppliers anticipate what to expect this time around.
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Foodservice Mega Trends in Canada: Essential Strategic Insights 2009

The report addresses how Canadians are reacting to a volatile economy, their purchase behavior at restaurants, drivers of future purchase intent, and key changes in usage and attitudes toward foodservice offerings. The report offers deep insight into the seven new directions that are transforming the Canadian foodservice industry and how challenging economic factors are shaping these trends.

Challenging Times: Driving Sales in 2009 

NPD has observed a wide variety of ways consumers modify their spending habits to adapt to economic stress. By analyzing the latest CREST data, combined with timely online consumer survey results about the economy, this report explores how the industry can take advantage of lessons learned from the past to select the best course of action to survive in the current economic environment.
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Holding Onto "Generation Next"...
The Coveted 18- to 24-Year-Old

Over the past several years, young adults, those 18-24 years of age, have been scaling back on their restaurant use with a rather dramatic fall-off in visits from 2007 to 2008. To help restaurant operators and their suppliers understand what is behind this shift in behavior, NPD has designed a study that will not only dig into the characteristics of their changing behavior, but also will get into the mindset of this group.
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Working Magic: The Art of the Deal

Across the country, consumers are keeping a tight grip on their wallets, finding many restaurant operators looking for ways to grow traffic. In spite of rising costs, many have expanded deal incentives to a degree not seen for many years . . . offering consumers a great value with their core products. Get a more in-depth understanding of consumers' responses to promotional efforts, and learn who is taking advantage of deals, whether operators are reaching the right consumers, and which types of deals rate the highest in customer satisfaction.
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China Foodservice Report

Chinese consumers are already enthusiastic users of convenient meal offerings, and demand will only go up with their growing disposable incomes. To get ahead of the curve (and your competitors), NPD offers the China Foodservice Report. It's an ongoing study that documents the behaviors of commercial foodservice consumers in China. Now you can discover which foodservice channels and categories are most important to the Chinese foodservice market. It also equips you to identify the differences between U.S. and Chinese consumers' use of commercial foodservice channels.
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How Brown Bagging Is Affecting Foodservice

Understanding what’s in consumers’ brown bags and why they carry from home the foods they do is essential for a clear view of the lunchtime slowdown many restaurants have experienced. Based on comprehensive information from NPD’s National Eating Trends®, CREST®, CREST OnSite®, Lunchtime MealScape, and a custom consumer study, this report can help companies develop new products and communicate more effectively with consumers to boost traffic at the mid-day meal.
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Greener Menus: Can Environmentally-Conscious Menus Also Green the Bottom Line?

Nearly half of consumers who use quick service restaurants believe it is important for restaurants to be environmentally friendly or "green." As a consumer driven business, foodservice operators and manufacturers need to satisfy consumer interests, but also quantify the consumer demand and benefit to providing environmentally-friendly modifications to operations and menu options. In this report, understand how consumers' attitudes about the environment translate to their use of restaurants and how likely they are to favor "green" menu items -- and at what price.
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Why This Downturn Will Be Different for Restaurants

As higher costs continue to squeeze margins, menu price hikes are likely, which then poses the question…how will consumers react? This report looks specifically at economic variables and industry trends dating back to 1978, how consumers reacted and what players were able to buck the trends and why. Learn how foodservice operators and manufacturers can market to their strengths during these tough economic times.
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NPD Exposes Supper Weakness – How Can Restaurant Operators Stem the Tide?

The decline in visits to restaurants for supper has plagued the industry for some time now. The weakness is widespread – and quick service restaurants recently have fallen victim to a slip in supper meal occasion traffic. Uncover what’s behind this shift in behavior with this report, which shows how external pressures, both social and economic, may influence consumers’ supper restaurant visit patterns and behavior.

The Fast Casual Market Report:
What are the Fast Casual Success Stories?

Demand for  fast casual restaurants has kept pace with their aggressive unit expansion – but not all have succeeded. Several chains have closed units, while others fare well and have expanded their availability. Now marketers can examine what makes the difference for the winning outlets – who they are and what they have in common. This report explores the fast casual success stories to help operators strengthen their position and broaden their appeal in the marketplace.

What is Driving Morning Meal Growth?

The morning meal occasion has had the largest recent traffic gains in the restaurant industry. Find out which quick-service restaurant (QSR) categories and chains are winning and losing, why consumers are visiting QSR outlets more often for their morning meals, which menu items matter most, and more – and get in on the momentum of morning meal occasions.

The Snacking Market: Why Consumers Snack

For the past several years, quick service restaurant snack occasions have risen, with particularly strong growth in 2007. Changing lifestyles and time pressures are often cited as catalysts for changes in snacking – but what’s really influencing consumers’ snacking behavior? This report, which supplements CREST® behavioral information, provides a clear view of the current snacking market and what motivates consumers to snack more often.

The Retail Ready-to-Eat Market:
Why Consumers Choose Ready-to-Eat Food & Beverages at Retail Channels

To target the ready-to-eat market, operators and manufacturers need to understand why consumers increasingly are turning to retail outlets for more of their prepared meals, snacks, and beverages. This report delivers that information, supplementing CREST behavioral data to provide a clear view of today’s ready-to-eat habits in retail channels, with both situational and motivational insight.

Catering to the Millennial Generation: Eating
Patterns of Pre-College and College-Age Teens

As primary service providers, college and university foodservice operators must understand what young people want and satisfy their needs, while meeting the expectations of schools and parents – and they must do it profitably, competing with off-campus retail foodservice offerings. This report reveals how foodservice operators can enhance their on-campus programs by recognizing pre-college teens’ in-home eating habits, identifying their food choices while at school, and assessing their restaurant visit and eating behavior.

It’s Not All About High Gas Prices:
A Comparison Between 2006 & 2007 Restaurant & Convenience Store Visitation

American drivers are facing skyrocketing gasoline prices – and the restaurant and convenience store industries have seen a slowdown in visits. But are these related – and if so, how? What does it mean for the foodservice marketplace? This report delivers the information and insight needed to understand consumers’ behaviors when financial conditions, such as volatile gas prices, have an impact on restaurant and convenience store visitation.

Casual Dining Lapsed User Study

Casual Dining has long been considered the restaurant industry's star performer -- until late 2005, when traffic growth began to slow. This report uses consumer research to address foodservice marketers' interest in and speculation about the shift in Casual Dining, with an emphasis on one critical question: How do specific Casual Dining chains fare? The report explores the mindsets of current, infrequent, and lapsed customers of major casual dining chains to uncover where consumers are going, their reasons for visiting less often, and what operators can do to increase visits.