April 5

4/5 - Economists concur that a mountain of savings - roughly $1.8 trillion over and above what would have been sans Covid - will combine with high vaccination rates and pent-up consumer demand to release a flood of spending this coming Spring/Summer. In restaurants, it means a welcome jump in sales, but it also means a lot of strain on supply chain and staffing needs. The billion-dollar question is “How much and for how long?” At Market Vision’s recent virtual conference, David Portalatin of the NPD Group pointed out that the trend toward eating meals at home greatly accelerated during the pandemic - and it’s not going away. The restaurant industry lost a 2% share to retail during the financial crisis, and now has lost another 2% due to Covid which’s likely not coming back. The need to reach American consumers in their homes is going to remain critical to the industry’s future survival.