Restaurant industry performance remains a mixed bag. An Olympic athlete prepares to go for gold in the restaurant industry. Chain restaurants continue to expand their footprint: these stories and more This Week in Foodservice.

The news was mixed pertaining to the National Restaurant Association’s August Restaurant Performance Index.

First, the good news: the RPI showed a healthy 1% uptick. Now the bad news: even with that growth the RPI came in at 98.6, which places the industry squarely in contraction mode.

Operators, an optimistic group by nature, have a pessimistic outlook about the overall direction of the economy, with only 15% saying they expect business conditions to improve in six months.

Forty-eight percent of operators made capital expenditures in August, down three points from the previous month.

Foodservice News

• Which do consumers feel offers a better value proposition: quick-service or casual dining restaurants? For the longest time, QSRs would have been the right answer but that’s no longer the case per, YouGov data shared by Restaurant Business. As of Sept. 26, casual dining had a value rating of 7.8 out of 10 compared to 5.2 for fast-food restaurants. That is in stark contrast to four years ago when QSRs scored 8.7 and casual dining scored 7.7.
• Restaurants account for 20 of the top 25 largest franchise systems, per a study from Franchise Times. The publication’s annual Top 400 list looks at the largest franchise systems in the U.S. based on global systemwide sales. Restaurant brands collectively generated $457.2 billion in sales for 2023, up 8.3% from the $422 billion in 2022, per a Franchise Times analysis of the data.
• Chain restaurants will continue to expand their footprint in 2024, per Technomic. The Chicago-based market research firm reports the top 1,500 chains will see their number of locations grow by 1.9% this year. This is 0.1% greater than 2023 and 0.3% greater than 2022.
• Compostables manufacturer Better Earth has acquired Betterbin, a software-as-a-service platform that provides recycling and composting education for consumers, retailers, and businesses. Betterbin specializes in curating packaging materials and waste management data, providing consumers with clear instructions on how to dispose of packaging correctly.
• As part of a four-pronged effort to celebrate its 83rd anniversary, Dickey’s Barbecue Pit has launched a capital improvements campaign, per a company release. This includes reinvesting in the chain’s traditional restaurants in the form of upgraded exterior signage, digital menu boards, store remodels and more. The chain will stop expanding five of its non-barbecue concepts. It also plans to retire licensing agreements outside of its traditional franchise system. The company does plan to launch an expanded menu that includes fried chicken and steak, loaded mashed potatoes and more. Dickey’s also has some philanthropic initiatives planned.
• A Big Mac with a twist is coming to a McDonald’s near you. After testing its Chicken Big Mac in international markets as well as in Miami in 2022, the burger giant is ready to roll out this sandwich across the country, per a USA Today story. The sandwich swaps the beef patties from the traditional Big Mac with a pair of tempura battered chicken patties. Otherwise, all the other ingredients remain the same.
• Legendary Olympic athlete Simone Biles is about to vault into the restaurant business. The world-renowned gymnast is working with The Playmakers Group to open Taste of Gold, a restaurant in Houston’s George Bush International Airport (IAH), per published reports. The Playmakers Group collaborated with other former athletes, including basketball star Dirk Nowitzki and hockey player Marty Turco on other projects. Few details were available about the restaurant, which will open next year.

Economic News

• U.S. employers added 254,000 positions in September, and the unemployment rate changed little at 4.1%, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. This was significantly more than 150,000 positions Dow Jones economists had projected, per a CNBC story. Employment continued to trend up in food services and drinking places, health care, government, social assistance, and construction. Specifically, eating and drinking places added a net 69,400 jobs in August, which is more than the 29,000 jobs the industry added in July and 37,5000 added in August, per an analysis from the National Restaurant Association. In total for the third quarter, eating and drinking places added a net 136,800 jobs, the largest quarterly employment growth since the third quarter of 2022.
• Private sector employers added 143,000 jobs in September and annual pay grew by 4.7%, per the ADP National Employment report. This was greater than the 103,000 positions added in August and more than the 128,000 positions projected by economists, per a CNBC story. Leisure and hospitality companies added 34,000 jobs, the most of any business category. Businesses with less than 50 employees saw a decline of 8,000 positions. In contrast, companies with more than 500 employees added 86,000 jobs and medium-sized businesses (50 to 499 employees) added 64,000 jobs.
• Initial jobless claims increased 6,000 for a total of 225,000 for the week-ending September 28, 2024, per the U.S. Department of Labor. The 4-week moving average was 224,250, a decrease of 750 from the previous week.
• The number of job openings totaled 8.0 million on the last business day of August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. This was essentially flat when compared to the 7.67 million openings at the end of July. August hires changed a little at 5.3 million. Total separations changed little at 5.0 million. Within separations, quits (3.1 million) continued to trend down and layoffs and discharges (1.6 million) changed little. In fact, August was the lowest level of quits since June of 2020, per Yahoo! Finance.
• U.S.-based employers announced 72,821 job cuts in September, which is a 4% decrease compared to August, per data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas. In the third quarter, announced job cuts decreased 16% compared to the same period in 2023. For the year, though, the number of announced job cuts is 0.8% greater than the same period in 2023.
• New orders for manufactured goods decreased 0.2% percent in August, per the U.S. Census Bureau. This comes after a 4.9% July increase. Economists polled by Reuters had projected new orders would be flat for the month.
• September economic activity in the manufacturing sector matched August, per the Manufacturing ISM Report On Business. The Manufacturing PMI was 47.2 in both months,
• Economic activity in the services sector increased in September, per the Services ISM Report On Business. The Services PMI came in at 54.9, its highest reading since February of 2023.