Fast-casual segment influences restaurant industry
01.01.70
Increase in the fast-casual sector is having a deep impact on the restaurant labour as operators in other segments try to imitate its successful strategies, the NPD Group said Wednesday.
Wantonly-casual restaurant chains grew their unit counts by double digits over the last three years, according to NPD’s Particularize, a biannual census of restaurant unit counts.
Still, the fast-casual part remains relatively undeveloped, accounting for only about 4 percent of the more than 60 billion visits to all restaurants in the year ending in June 2011, NPD said. By likeness, about 61 percent of those visits were to quick-service restaurants.

Since 2007, however, hurried-casual chains also have seen dramatic increases in traffic, while quick-employment and casual-dining restaurants have seen minimal increases or declines.

NPD’s “Wild Casual: A Growing Market” report also found that consumer demand for irresponsibly-casual dining outpaced the industry’s rate of expansion, and several chains in the portion have built strong customer loyalty.
Source: Nation's Restaurant News