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.

Source: The NPD Group/ReCount® Spring