How’s the health of the fresh food logistics industry? To find out, let’s take a bite out of a Restaurant Trends Report recently released by Toast, a digital technology platform used by 68,000 restaurants across the U.S. Their Q2 report provides a reliable snapshot of the state of the restaurant industry through sales data of restaurants on the Toast platform, as of June 30, 2022.
The Toast report points out that rising food costs, inflation, and labor constraints were challenges restaurants faced in Q2 of 2022. But despite these hardships, restaurants are seeing strong demand.
So as people are dining out in droves again, that’s great news for fresh food supply chain and the companies serving the industry, such as Prime Fresh Handling.
Let’s take a look at the key findings Toast’s Restaurant Trends Report observed:
FSR Sales are Skyrocketing
During the COVID-19 pandemic, full-service restaurants (FSR) saw the biggest dip in sales with dining room closures and local capacity restrictions. Observing trends in sales growth in restaurants on the Toast platform from Q2 2019 through the end of Q2 2022, FSR sales have recovered to levels not seen since before the pandemic.
QSRs are Nearly Back
Sales measured by gross merchandise volume for FSR on a same-store basis are up 18 percent in Q2 2022 compared to Q1 2022. Sales for quick-service restaurants (QSR), which also saw a significant hit in 2020, are nearly back to pre-pandemic levels, with same-store sales up 17 percent in Q2 2022 compared to Q1 2022.
Appetite for In-Person Dining
Also according to the report, “The appetite for in-person dining remained strong in Q2 through rising inflation, economic uncertainty, and COVID-19 subvariant spikes,” with sales for on-premise dining in Q2 2022 growing nearly 22 percent compared to Q1 2022.
Chinese Food is Tops
Food-type wise, Chinese cuisine saw the largest increase in YoY sales in Q2 2022 at 23 percent – great news for those of us in the business of handling fresh seafood and produce – followed by Thai and European cuisine at 15 percent.
Best-Performing Metro Areas
Regionally, the report says that “The Emerald City, Beantown, and the New York City metro area tied for the best-performing metro areas in Q2 2022,” with 24 percent sales growth YoY. The Bay Area saw a 20 percent increase while the nation’s capital and surrounding areas also saw a similarly large increases.
One interesting side note: Toast found that “Consumers generally tipped well even with inflation.” As the price of goods and services increased, the average same-store tip amount is up nearly 10 percent compared to last year.
Take a look at the full report, showing that despite recent hardships, restaurants are enjoying strong demand in Q2 of 2022 and generosity from consumers with consistent tips and increased growth. Let’s all toast to that!
Global Services
Whether it’s a box, a pallet, or a companywide logistics operation, Prime Fresh Handling is skilled in achieving safe, on-time delivery of time- and temperature-sensitive products between any point of origin and destination around the world.
In fact, PFH is also known as a global leader in perishables transportation of fresh produce, fish, cut flowers, and plants – plus vaccines and other pharmaceuticals, as well. With dedicated state-of-the-art facilities in Europe, South America, and across North America, PFH leverages industry-leading technologies such as vacuum cooling, sorting, re-packing, barcoding, labeling, and temperature and quality monitoring to guarantee consistent, safe, and fresh delivery.
Contact Prime Fresh Handling
For information, contact PFH General Manager, West Coast: Cristina Moscoso at 323-328-8650, via email at infopfh@prime-fresh.com, or visit www.prime-fresh.com.