Away-from-home soup and salad purchases are on the rise, as consumers seek light, healthy and affordable fare. A variety of portion sizes featuring soup/salad options on different areas of the menu allows consumers to tailor their meal specifically to their needs. Whether it’s a cup or bowl, side or entree, 61 percent of consumers now order soup at least occasionally during restaurant visits, up from 52 percent just two years ago. Salads have grown even more, nearly half of consumers now order salad all or most of the time compared to 34 percent.

“Healthy options and portion variety are driving factors in today’s soup and salad menu positioning,” says Technomic Director of Consumer Research Sara Monnette. “Operators are revamping their menus in response to consumer demand for soup and salad as a standalone entree, side substitution, an appetizer, or a component of a combo meal. There are many menu variations in which soups/salads are now offered.”

Interesting findings include:

• Soup and salad are the two most common appetizers at both limited-service restaurants (LSRs) and full-service restaurants (FSRs). Appetizer salads remained fairly steady in both sectors since 2009, while soup grew 22 percent to surpass salad as the leading appetizer at LSRs.
• Salads are the fourth most frequently menued entree among all entrees at LSRs and rank second at FSRs. Chicken-topped salads are by far the leading entree variety offered at both LSRs and FSRs, followed by Caesar.
• Based on information from over 500 leading and emerging chains, chili has surpassed soup-of-the-day offerings to become the leading soup variety at LSRs, and ranked second at FSRs.
• Interest in healthier, lighter fare is driving increases for both soup and salad. 76 percent of consumers who are purchasing salads more often say they’re seeking a healthier option and 49 percent want something lighter.
• A strong majority (64 percent) of consumers believe that dressings are a key component, if not the key component of a tasty salad. The overall variety of options and flavors offered trumps healthfulness and brand names as purchase drivers.

Steve Jobs lived an incredible life and his innovative way of thinking has affected the lives of everyone world-wide. He had struggled, been successful,been rich, failed, been fired from his own company, built another businesss,rehired by Apple and continued to take technology to limits no one else
dreamed.  Some have compared him to Thomas Edison with regard to how he changed not only peoples lives but how the world conducts business.

His commencement address to the graduates at Stanford University really is an inspiration. He was a dreamer and an entrepreneur who never gave up, never stopped trying and always pursued his vision.

Highly successful people admit to watching this video many times – from daily to weekly.  It keeps them focused, it keeps them on track, it helps them keep their vision and most importantly it keeps them true to themselves.

I strongly recommend you watch, listen and learn from this video.  Watch it as many times as you need and keep it as part of your tools for success.

As one of the largest hospitality recruiting agencies, we have our finger on the pulse of industry trends. What we are seeing are more and more concepts opening new restaurant locations nationwide. This is great news and shows not only growth but industry stability.

The nation’s 960,000 restaurants will continue to be strong contributors to the recovery of the nation’s economy, with industry sales representing 4 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product and employees comprising nearly 10 percent of the U.S. workforce. Its total economic impact exceeds $1.7 trillion, as every dollar spent in restaurants generates $2.05 spent in the overall economy. Restaurants are the nation’s second-largest private sector employer with 12.8 million employees.

A sample of what we are seeing:

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, a division of AFC Enterprises, Inc. announced the launch of an aggressive growth plan to increase its presence in Tampa. With the company’s dollar share of chicken QSR sales at a 10-year high domestically, Popeyes is poised to rapidly expand domestically and is seeking bold, passionate multi-unit operators to invest in new restaurants in Tampa. 

Wingstop has announced plans to aggressively expand its presence in the Atlanta area.  The fast-growing national chicken wing chain plans to add 20 additional locations in Atlanta over the next several years. 

Coppell TX – based CiCi’s, a rapidly-expanding 600-unit pizza, pasta, salad and dessert buffet chain, announced it has signed agreements for the addition of 16 units over the next five years and hired Wingstop veteran Bruce Evans to lead franchise sales. The moves are part of CiCi’s growth initiative, with the goal of adding 500 restaurants in the next eight to 10 years.

I was recently at the International Franchise Expo in Washington DC and there are many new concepts opening. This is yet another great sign indicating continuing growth for the hospitality industry. There were concepts from Korean Burgers to Sushi to Grilled Cheese!

Does this video represent a future trend for restaurants?

Two dogs waiting patiently to get served in “restaurant”, and in spite of waiting, never get anything to drink.