Wednesday November 15, 2023, 09:21:52

Restaurants’ Market Share vs. Grocery Stores Remains High, But…

By Mark Kalinowski

Data out today from the U.S. Census shows that restaurants’ market share (with grocery stores/supermarkets making up the other component) was 55.5% in October 2023. This was only 10 basis points away from tying the all-time monthly record of 55.6%. We are somewhat surprised at this strength, as we believe that U.S. restaurant industry same-store sales in general have slowed down over the first half of Q4 2023. Nevertheless, the robust October percentage shows that, despite restaurant prices gaining steam at a more meaningful rate than grocery prices for more than a half-year now, consumers have – at least through the end of October – not meaningfully shifted food dollars back to grocery stores and supermarkets.

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Tuesday November 14, 2023, 08:54:58

Restaurant Pricing (and Grocery Pricing) Decelerate Yet Again

By Mark Kalinowski

The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) data shows that prices for food-at-home (grocery stores and supermarkets) rose by +2.1% in October (sequentially down by -30 basis points from September’s +2.4%). This +2.4% number compares with price for food-away-from-home (restaurants) that increased by +5.4% year-over-year in October (sequentially down by -60 basis points from September’s +6.0%). This marks the 8th month in a row for which restaurant pricing is outpacing grocery/supermarket pricing, following no such months during all of 2022.

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Thursday October 26, 2023, 07:00:00

Restaurants: Latest Black Box Index Number the Weakest Month in Over a Year

By Mark Kalinowski

Black Box Intelligence has released its latest monthly Black Box Index – an index which aggregates same-store sales for 175+ domestic restaurant concepts. Black Box notes that its data represents over 50,000 restaurant units, $75 billion in annual sales, and 300+ clients.

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