Page 14 - OhioRA 2012SpringFlipBook

12 www.ohiorestaurant.org Spring 2012 Issue

Additionally, the association’s data suggest that eating-and-drinking places will gain back all of the jobs lost during the recession by early 2012. The overall U.S. economy isn’t expected to post similar growth until 2014.

Steady growth for the industry is expected in occupational positions that merge food prep and service, which are expected to grow signifcantly over the next 10 years. The NRA forecast predicts that these jobs will grow by 409,000 between 2012 and 2022. Server positions are also expected to comprise a signifcant segment of industry growth in the next 10 years.

As the job market improves, restaurant operators have also expressed some concern that it will be harder in 2012 to fnd talented and committed employees to fll open positions. Over the past several years, the smaller pool of jobs in the U.S. has provided restaurant operators with a larger base of prospective employees. Should the job market continue to improve, some restaurant operators are worried about where they will fnd talented crew members to join their teams. In fact, 32% of fne-dining and quick-service operators indicated in the forecast that they expect recruiting and retaining employees to be more challenging in 2012 than it has been in previous years. A smaller fgure, 27%, of family-dining, casual-dining and fast-casual operators expressed similar concerns.

The Outlook for Full-service Operations

According to the data gathered by NRA, the full-service segment of the restaurant industry is projected to see annual sales in excess of $200 billion for the frst time on record in 2012. In fact, the NRA expects them to total $201.4 billion in 2012, 2.9% over where they stood in 2011.

When considering infation’s impact on sales, full-service sales are still expected to post a positive gain of 0.2%, which

represents a slight decline from the 0.8% real gain they experienced in 2011.

While more than 80% of those surveyed for the industry forecast indicated that business conditions for the restaurant industry ranked either “fair” or “poor,” full-service operators remained more optimistic about their own business conditions. This was particularly true among casual-dining and fne-dining operators. The NRA reported that roughly one-half of those operators rated their own business conditions as either “excellent” or “good.”

Among family-dining operators, 31% indicated that business conditions were either “excellent” or “good;” however, nearly 70% indicated that conditions were “fair” or “poor.”

Due to what operators described as a troubled economy in 2011, very few were able to build new business. Approximately 60% of family-dining and fne-dining operators said they found it more challenging to attract new guests in 2011 than they had in 2010. Among casual-dining operators, 55% said that this was a challenge for them.

Another issue that remains perplexing for operators is competition for consumers’ dollars. The NRA reported in its 2011 Restaurant Trends Survey, that 70% of full-service operators found it harder to maintain customer loyalty than in previous years. Cost pressures also continued to weigh heavily on operators.

Additionally, full-service operators stated that competitive pressures have increased as consumers’ behaviors saw them visiting more grocery stores, quick-service operations and fast-casual restaurants.

A common response from full-service operators is that they rely more today on repeat customers than they did in previous years. Due to the value of repeat customers, the NRA reported that many operators have reinstituted frequent diner programs that reward loyalty among guests. Data suggest that “frequent full-service customers,” which are those that dine at a full-service restaurant more than once a week, are much more likely to be confdent spenders in the current economic environment.

What Limited-service Restaurateurs Can Expect

The limited-service eating-place segment of the restaurant industry, which is comprised of limited-service restaurants, cafeterias, grills and buffets, and snack-and-nonalcoholic-beverage bars, is projected to register total sales of $209.9 billion in 2012, an increase of 3.2% over its 2011 sales.