Insights are based on site visits evaluating the restaurant scene in cities across the US, as well as interviews and surveys of operators, chefs and consumers, backed up by qualitative data from its extensive Digital Resource Library and quantitative data from its Menu Monitor database.
Some of these developments reflect larger societal trends, while others point to specific, emerging food preferences that may or may not take hold in restaurants across the US.
4aedbf4ec36cb7c7b10c9157ba308611Deliberately or inadvertently, restaurant operators got caught up in political controversy as never before in 2013. Some suffered customer backlash after expressing views related to ‘Obamacare’, ‘family values’ or other topics, but others saw increased traffic. Consumers are increasingly aware that the personal is political; that their choices and those of the restaurants they patronise regarding food, treatment of employees and suppliers, sustainability and the environment, have real consequences. Consciously or unconsciously, they will gravitate to concepts that share their worldview and some restaurants will promote this cultural identification.
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