Noncommercial Foodservice Shows Growth in 2013
04 March 2013
Good news for graduates this year is that foodservice in healthcare and B&I is projected to expand, says Technomic.
Even though most of the focus in the foodservice industry is on major restaurant chains, the noncommercial sector is also a thriving realm for foodservice. Noncommercial operations accounted for 34% of total U.S. foodservice sales in 2012, garnering more than $200 billion in sales (retail sales equivalent).
In 2013, Technomic expects the strongest (nominal) growth in the healthcare (4.5%) and business & industry (4.0%) segments. As a whole, noncommercial foodservice operations are forecast to grow 3.7%, representing many and varied opportunities for suppliers to the industry.
“Noncommercial foodservice players are looking to other segments like fast-casual to adopt best practices,” says Darren Tristano, executive vice president of Chicago-based Technomic, Inc. “More consumers want food that is high quality, fresh and flavorful. Whether they are traveling, attending school or work or just concerned about their children’s school lunches, they’ve come to expect better options and operators need to deliver it.”
Technomic defines the noncommercial segment as including colleges and universities, K-12 school districts, healthcare, retail meal solutions, convenience stores, travel centers, lodging/hotels, recreation, travel, business & industry, military, corrections, daycare, group-purchasing organizations and foodservice-management firms.
To help foodservice executives understand the various untapped segments within noncommercial foodservice, Technomic’s Top 1000 Noncommercial online resource and companion report provides exclusive rankings and profiles of the leading noncommercial segments. Interesting findings include:
- Just over 50% of the Top 100 colleges and universities are operated by foodservice-management companies.
- The Top 100 healthcare facilities (including hospitals, long-term care and senior living) include roughly 85,000 beds, with foodservice purchases estimated at $350 million in 2012.
- Out of the Top 60 hotel brands profiled, 42% are upscale, 30% are midscale, 20% are luxury and 8% are economy.
- The 10 largest foodservice-management companies saw estimated sales of $7.5 billion in the business & industry segment in 2012.
- The recreation segment covers casinos, cruise lines, movie theaters, bowling centers, museums and zoos, race tracks, ski resorts, sports-club-management companies, stadiums and arenas and theme and amusement parks.
Photo: Colleges and universities are among the noncommercial segments that are expected to do well this year. Here, the Café at Kendall College in Chicago operates for the benefit of students, faculty and staff. Courtesy of Kendall College/Eric Futran