Restaurant Industry Performance Pulse: June 23, 2022

All Restaurant Daypart Sales Higher Than Pre-Covid Levels. Still, Wise to Watch Lunch & Late-Night Laggers

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Data through the week ending June 12, 2022

Overall Sales & Traffic

• This week marks the 14th consecutive week the industry has experienced YoY negative traffic growth.
• Restaurant sales and traffic growth from the week ending on June 12th posted the softest YoY growth rates since week ending March 7, 2021.
• The negative growth trend will remain in the forecast as traffic continues to fall.
• Despite the slowdowns, same-store sales growth posted positive growth numbers. 

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Segment Performance

• Highest Performers include: Fine-Dining, Fast Casual, and Upscale Casual (based on sales growth).
• Lowest Performers include: Quick-Service and Casual Dining (based on sales growth). 
• Casual Dining is a newcomer to the low performer category. This is the first week the segment experienced negative growth numbers in well over a year. Reports show performance retracted only slightly. 
• QSR, on the other hand, has experienced negative sales growth consistently since the beginning of the year.

Daypart Performance – Pre-Pandemic vs. Now

• Sales across all industry dayparts improved this quarter (Q2 2022) compared to the same quarter in 2019 – the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• However, the same can’t be said for traffic. All industry dayparts posted negative traffic growth during the same time period.
• Late-Night and Lunch dayparts showed the weakest growth for both sales and traffic.

Regional Performance

• Out of the country’s eleven regions, seven posted positive sales growth during the week ending on June 12th.
• Highest Performers include: New England, California, Mid-Atlantic, and Mountain Plains. (based on sales growth)
• Lowest Performers include: New York-New Jersey, Southwest, Florida, and the Western regions. (based on sales growth)

Value-Based Offers Mentioned More in Restaurant Reviews

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• Inflation means value is a top priority for both guests and restaurant operators.
• Inflation continues to put upward pressure on prime costs forcing restaurants to pass a portion of the additional costs to consumers.
• Consumers aren’t just feeling the effects of inflation on their food spending habits. Shrinking purchasing power is forcing many to find ways to stretch their dollars.
• Q2 2022 data compared to this time last year shows a greater frequency in the terms, “all you can eat,” “endless,” “unlimited,” “specials,” and “bottomless.
• Mentions of “price” in guest reviews show a dip in net sentiment as well as a decrease in the total average star rating compared to last year.
• Net sentiment for the term “expensive” is down.
• Net sentiment for the terms “deals,” “cheap,” and “worth the money” are all up. 
• In response to the inflationary environment, restaurants are stepping up value offerings.