2022 State of the Restaurant Industry

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This benchmark State of the Industry Report provides a comprehensive view of the issues and opportunities facing restaurant operators in the coming year along with consumers’ dining preferences and intentions.

Findings are based on analysis of economic data and findings from surveys of 3,000 restaurant operators, 1,000 adult consumers and leading government data sources. Survey data was fielded in November/December ’21.

The report features:

• Sales and economic forecasts for 2022
• Latest operational trends for on- and off-premises foodservice
• Menu and dining trends
• Current workforce challenges

Key findings include: 

• 62% of adults in the U.S. say they’re more likely to order takeout or delivery food from a restaurant than they were before the coronavirus outbreak.
• Industry sales for ‘22 are expected to reach $898B
• The foodservice industry workforce is projected to grow by 400K jobs and reach 14.9M in ’22.
• More than half of restaurant operators said it would be a year or more before business conditions return to normal.
• Food, labor, and occupancy costs will continue to rise, more severely impacting restaurant profit margins in ’22.
• 96% of operators experienced supply delays or shortages of key food or beverage items in ’21; supply chain challenges will continue through ’22.
• 51% of adults say they aren’t eating at restaurants as often as they’d like, which is an increase of 6 percentage points from before the pandemic.