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Restaurant Count Showing Little Sign of Growth

Foodservice industry shows stalled growth in restaurant census.

The total U.S. restaurant count decreased one percent, with independents dropping three percent and chain units flat, according to The NPD Group’s spring 2016 ReCount restaurant census. The data includes restaurants open as of March 31, 2016.

The drop in independents came primarily from the full-service segment, down three percent, which includes casual dining, midscale/family dining and fine dining. Quick-service independents declined by two percent.

The NPD Group noted that the data reflects the lack of traffic growth overall in the foodservice industry over the past several years. “Our forecast finds that U.S. foodservice visit growth will be less than one percent in the coming years, which means there will not be significant unit expansion for a while,” said Greg Starzynski, director-product management, NPD Foodservice.

Segment

System Type

Spring 2015

Spring
2016

PCYA*
% change from year ago 2016

TOTAL RESTAURANTS

ALL

632,572

624,301

-1%

 

CHAINS

291,794

292,832

0%

 

INDEPENDENTS

340,778

331,469

-3%

         

Source: The NPD Group/ReCount® Spring