Restaurant operators, hit hard by the recession, scramble to find offerings that incorporate new ingredients and presentations, an acceptable price point and previously underserved dayparts--all while trying to guess what the next hot trend will be.
The recent recommendations from the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) confirmed what Mintel's research and consumers have already been suggesting: restaurants need healthier menus.
Though dining-out frequency in the U.S. restaurant industry is finally showing signs of stabilization, rising food costs, liquidity issues due to recession-ravaged company balance sheets and a level of consumer frugality that still has not abated threaten the industry's fledgling recovery, according to a new study by AlixPartners LLP, the global business-advisory firm.