Consumer Trends: Page 2

  • Three fast food beverages stand in line.
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    Aneurin Canham-Clyne/Restaurant Dive
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    How diversifying drinks can create new restaurant dayparts

    Consumer interest in value, healthier options and novelty is driving demand for higher margin beverages and new occasions.

    By • July 21, 2025
  • Caribou Coffee's lemonade refreshers with fruit inclusions.
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    Courtesy of caribou coffee
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    Caribou adds Lemonade Refreshers to permanent menu

    The coffee chain is expanding its lineup of cold, non-coffee beverages as the refresher category takes off across brands.

    By • July 17, 2025
  • An image of several people eating hamburgers and french fries from a generic fast food restaurant. Explore the Trendline➔
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    Diamond Dogs via Getty Images
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    Trendline

    Loyalty & Rewards Strategy

    Capturing — and keeping — loyal customers is more crucial than ever as diner price sensitivity puts pressure on restaurants.

    By Restaurant Dive staff
  • A cohort of sauces and a band of chicken dippers.
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    Courtesy of Popeyes
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    Popeyes unveils Signature Sauce, Chicken Dippers

    The sauce is served in rounded cups, rather than the chain’s standard rectangular containers, a move resembling Raising Cane’s and Dave’s Hot Chicken’s sauce strategy.

    By • July 14, 2025
  • A waiter serves a table at a nice restaurant
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    Rawpixel via Getty Images
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    Casual, not careless: The art of relaxed dining design

    If casual brands don’t invest in the contemporary, experiential offerings diners crave, they could eventually risk ceding traffic to fast casual competitors.

    By Amanda Schuster • July 14, 2025
  • An arm reaches out of a gray car to collect a bag of food while an employee with blue gloves hands off the bag.
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    NewSaetiew via Getty Images
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    Packaging suppliers respond to QSR diners hungry for a better experience

    Manufacturers are working with their restaurant customers to improve takeout, as well as sustainability opportunities for food service ware.

    By Shefali Kapadia • July 9, 2025
  • Two iced coffee drinks in glass jars with cream being poured into the one on the right and filtering through. The jars are on a silver tray with a white linen napkin, two straws, a spoon and a bowl.
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    viennetta via Getty Images
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    Beverage trends: The forces shaping the coffee sector in 2025

    Small coffee chains are looking to experiential coffee occasions to outcompete major chains, but they’re not abandoning menu innovation.

    By • July 1, 2025
  • A table with different chicken items from Taco Bell
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    Permission granted by Taco Bell
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    It’s the summer of chicken for QSRs

    Chains including Culver’s, McDonald’s and Taco Bell hope to attract customers with new poultry lineups this season.

    By • June 24, 2025
  • A photograph of a person wearing a suit and smiling.
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    Courtesy of Yum Brands
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    Yum Brands appoints Chris Turner CEO

    Turner, current chief financial and franchise officer, will succeed David Gibbs on Oct. 1. Gibbs will serve the chain in an advisory role through 2026.

    By • Updated June 17, 2025
  • An image of a brick building with red Chick-fil-A signage
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    Brandon Bell via Getty Images
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    Chick-fil-A leads in customer satisfaction for 11th straight year

    The ACSI 2025 report found challenger brands on the march, sector leaders on the defensive, and Starbucks showing surprising strength.

    By • June 17, 2025
  • A robot table busser with a cat face on a tablet screen.
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    Aneurin Canham-Clyne/Restaurant Dive
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    The many faces of automation at the NRA Show

    This year artificial intelligence appeared in forms ranging from a cat-eared delivery robot to a generated analytics dashboard.

    By • June 5, 2025
  • Two people hold Zaxbys food.
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    Courtesy of Zaxbys
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    Zaxbys’ latest LTO emphasizes late-night dining

    The fried chicken chain joins brands like Pizza Hut, Wendy’s and Portillo’s in making late-night occasions a strategic priority.

    By • June 3, 2025
  • "Omelet, canon 1Ds mark III"
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    webphotographeer via Getty Images
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    Sponsored by American Egg Board

    Why (and how) restaurants continue to embrace the incredible, irreplaceable egg

    Consumers continue to expect and demand real eggs on restaurant menus.

    June 2, 2025
  • The sign on a Red Robin restaurant.
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    Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
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    Red Robin ‘far from claiming victory’ despite comps growth

    The casual chain’s turnaround efforts are paying off in terms of comparable sales and profits, but executives say a repeat performance is unlikely in Q2.

    By • May 30, 2025
  • Adam, a robot made by Richtech Robotics, makes an espresso drink at the National Restaurant Association Show in May 2025.
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    Aneurin Canham-Clyne/Restaurant Dive
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    Reporter’s notebook: 3 unanswered questions from the NRA Show

    Can a robot really replace a worker? Will tariffs trigger a recession? Can you charge $14 for a mocktail?

    By • May 28, 2025
  • A hand drops sauce from a spoon onto plates of food.
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    Gins Wang via Getty Images
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    Full-service restaurant uncertainty: Why diners are trading up and down

    Customers are pulling back on spending in full-service dining — except when they aren’t. Both fine dining establishments and massive casual brands must adapt to mixed signals.

    By • May 28, 2025
  • Three fast food beverages stand in line.
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    Aneurin Canham-Clyne/Restaurant Dive
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    McDonald’s will wind down CosMc’s, test drinks

     The Golden Arches will start shuttering its beverage innovation spinoff’s units in late June, just 18 months after its first location opened. 

    By • May 27, 2025
  • Shrimp and French Fries
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    Permission granted by Lamb Weston
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    Sponsored by Lamb Weston

    Ever wonder what makes fries so craveable?

    Fries drive customer satisfaction when they deliver on two key elements: the combination of crispiness and seasoning.

    May 27, 2025
  • Contactless payment made a restaurant dinner table.
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    Southworks

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    Why dashboard dining and weekend restaurant visits are on the rise

    Consumer trends are contradictory, according to a Technomic presentation at the National Restaurant Association Show. Both on-premise group dining and solo car dining are growing.

    By • May 22, 2025
  • Burger King’s Maple Bourbon BBQ Whopper
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    Courtesy of Burger King
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    LTOs and value are key to solving restaurant traffic downturn: Technomic

    With consumers bracing for tariff impacts, limited-time offerings will likely grow in importance alongside budget-focused menu items.

    By • May 20, 2025
  • Am image of a sign on a window that says "Meal Deal" and shows a chicken sandwich and burger with nuggest, fries and a Coca-Cola.
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    Mario Tama via Getty Images
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    Analysts at NRA Show: Tariffs could make H2 gloomier for restaurants

    As costs rise, fast food chains are losing pricing advantages relative to fast casual and even full-service chains.

    By • May 19, 2025
  • An image of a customer entering a Cava restaurant.
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    Mario Tama via Getty Images
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    How Cava beat traffic gravity in Q1

    The brand’s 10.8% comparable sales growth outperformed rival fast casuals, with Chipotle and Sweetgreen posting flat-to-negative sales.

    By • May 16, 2025
  • An exterior shot of a beige restaurant on a rainy day.
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    Aneurin Canham-Clyne/Restaurant Dive
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    Vegan full-service chain Planta goes bankrupt

    Rising costs, falling consumer demand and structural changes in the restaurant industry left the brand with insufficient cash flow.

    By • May 14, 2025
  • A stock image of a consumer examining a receipt.
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    Patpitchaya via Getty Images
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    Tariffs, immigration policy put US restaurants at ‘significant risk’: Fitch

    High consumer price sensitivity leaves brands with little room to offset the costs of tariffs and labor market disruptions.

    By • May 14, 2025
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    Permission granted by MARS Foodservices
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    Sponsored by MARS Foodservices

    Top sweet snacking trends

    Learn how to elevate your dessert offerings and explore the latest trends consumers crave in 2025!

    May 12, 2025
  • An image of a Sweetgreen restaurant with a drive-thru
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    Courtesy of Sweetgreen
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    Sweetgreen’s same-store sales slip for first time as public company

    The salad brand attributed its sales shortfall to consumer pullback, and is looking to loyalty and LTOs to offset the trouble.

    By • May 9, 2025