More Choices Attract More Guests With their busy schedules, more Americans are choosing from multiple meal sources, which has resulted in the average American’s annual restaurant visits declining from a peak of 216 during 2000 to 185 for the year ending February 2018. According to Acosta and Technomic, 65% of all US diners “ate prepared foods at home purchased from a grocery store,” 34% “ate prepared foods in the grocery store dining area” and 22% “ordered grocery-prepared foods for home delivery” during late 2017. Millennials, specifically, are driving the food- convenience trend, as Acosta reports 77% ordered food delivered from a restaurant or via an independent delivery service, such as GrubHub and UberEats, while 42% said they ordered online meal/ingredient kits.

More Patrons Choosing to Eat Alone…and Enjoying It Dining alone has been traditionally viewed as a negative reflection on those diners, but 32% of those responding to Hartman Group’s Transformation of the American Meal 2017 study said it has become a personal pleasure. Both younger and older adults share this phenomenon, but for different reasons. Millennials tend to choose to eat alone to accomplish more work while many older adults are single households. Although many parents would prefer their family to eat together, 44% said various household and lifestyle challenges often result in the meal preparer eating alone.

Dining with Children Generates More Spending Not surprisingly, diners with children spend more for food monthly than all US diners and those without children, or $554.40, $419.70 and $342.70, respectively. Of those totals, diners with children also spend more monthly for food prepared outside the home than all US diners and those without children, or $208.20, $136.20 and $95.00, respectively. Diners with children are also digitally connected while at a restaurant – 28% connected to Wi-Fi on their personal mobile device, 24% text family and friends to inform them of where they are eating and 22% post to social media about their dining experiences.

Healthy Restaurant Eating Increasingly Important A majority of diners, including Millennials and those with children, were still trying to choose healthy options when eating at a restaurant during 2017 – 58% according to Hartman Group and 55% according to the Acosta/Technomic spring 2018 report. The Acosta/Technomic survey found 38% of all US diners said they were very confident they could choose healthy food options from a restaurant menu, with 51%, somewhat confident; 9%, not very confident; and 2%, not at all confident. Once again, Millennials were healthy-eating- trend leaders during 2017, with 48% eating more salads at restaurants; 46% eating more restaurant meals with locally-sourced ingredients; and 45% eating more restaurant meals with fish.

Ordering Food While Commuting Is a New Time Saver Consumers’ demand for convenience when choosing where and what to eat now extends to their commute. According to a September 2018 Fetch survey, 43% of commuters said there were using their smartphones more than 2 years ago to order food via an app. The Fetch survey further revealed 21% of participants use food-ordering apps every day, and 24% weekly. A March 2018 survey from TrendSource found 32.9% of respondents (who are US Internet users) said they were very likely/extremely likely to use a restaurant’s app to pick up an onsite meal, compared to 29.3% who would use the app for delivery.

Advertising Strategies Show how local restaurants can use late-night TV and your station’s news Website to reach more young adults and promote the restaurant’s food-delivery service and/or the use of an independent delivery service. Add a coupon/discount for an on-premise meal. Restaurants in the right locations may want to create and advertise a solo-dining area in their establishments, with enough tabletop space for younger guests to work while they eat as well as providing charging stations at each table for their mobile devices. Local, independent restaurants can gain a competitive advantage by making it easy for patrons to find and select healthy options from the menu as well as promoting quick-and-easy access to the restaurant’s nutritional information via a mobile device.

New Media Strategies Maximize the number of diners with children who text family and friends about where they are eating and their dining experiences by offering a discount or free menu item (dessert) when they make those social connections during or immediately following their meal. Local, independent restaurants can benefit from influencer marketing by asking a regular customer who eats there because of the restaurants’ healthy menu choices to post social media content weekly in exchange for a monthly coupon/discount. Restaurants can promote commuter ordering of food for pick up or delivery with in-store materials, such as table tents, and occasional social media posts touting how much time commuters can save. Offer a coupon/discount during the first month of the promotion.