The respondents ranked consistency, convenience, price per serving, labor savings and sensory quality as the top five most important product traits to foodservice customers/operators. Of the R&D and marketing titles that responded to the survey, 74% said they developed/marketed products for the foodservice industry. Only the responses of these 236 foodservice suppliers were considered in the rest of the survey.
When asked to rank the top five most important product traits to their foodservice customers, some 82% checked off consistency, 65% convenience (speed to prepare), 61% price per serving, followed by labor savings (ease in handling) and sensory quality.