–Food Safety Issues Hurt Traffic in China and Germany
Higher eater checks at foodservice outlets around the globe in the second calendar quarter of 2014 helped to increase overall consumer spending in every country except Spain and Italy, reportsThe NPD Group, a leading global information company. Foodservice traffic results for the quarter were mixed and reflected each country’s economy, consumer confidence level, or other industry issues, like food safety, which proved a visit deterrent for restaurant chains in China and Germany.
Australia and Great Britain were the only two established foodservice markets to post traffic count increases in the second quarter, according to NPD’sCRESTfoodservice market research, which continually tracks consumer use of foodservice outlets inAustralia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Russia, Spain, and the United States.The fledgling foodservice markets of China and Russia also posted traffic gains. Spain, after years of pulling down overall traffic performance in the European market, did not have the steepest traffic declines in the quarter, but Italy did with a 2 percent loss in visits.
The importance of quick service restaurants to the global foodservice marketplace was evident in the second quarter of the year. According to NPD, the four countries with growing traffic counts all posted visit increases from the quick service restaurant segment. Quick service traffic was down in the countries that experienced visit declines in the quarter.
