Welcome to the non-stop lifestyle, to a country that never sleeps. America’s got a lot on its plate but as our days become more 24/7 than 9 to 5, three square meals are featuring less and less. So much so that said plates may even be a dying breed meanwhile, their once natural habitat - the dining table - is vanishing faster than sea ice. We are the United States of Snackers - we graze often and we graze-to-go. In fact such a growing number of us are now shunning home cooked fare that the average American adult consumes a restaurant bought meal or snack almost six times per week (USHFC). It’s no wonder then that in 2016, our collective bar and restaurant bill exceeded that for our groceries - by $2.35 billion no less (NY MAG). In this post - the first in a two part out-of-home special - we examine why.


United States of Snackers


Work It
In the olden days, we’re talking BG here (that’s Before Google), at least one of the family – most likely Mom – would spend a good chunk of her day slaving over a hot stove. The men and children in her life were greeted each morning by a table laden with breakfast delights, not to mention individual lunch boxes that were locked and ready to roll. What’s more, when they returned home that evening, the family would sit down together to enjoy another veritable feast prepared by Mom. Over time of course Mom quit homemaking to make money instead or perhaps, more accurately, took on a second job too - one that provided her with a pay cheque. And this is how most US households work today: by working and working hard. In 2015 both parents were employed in three out of five married-couple families. Amongst couples of other marital status, 70.8% of women in female-maintained families worked while four out five men in male-maintained families did the same (BLS). But it’s not just about families, America’s homes are populated by roommates, childless couples, individuals caring for their elderly parents – the list goes on – and most of these homes are vacated for large portions of the day too while their inhabitants work, study or - in - many cases do both. It’s worth noting that a quarter of the US population (that’s around 81.4million people) are now thought to live alone (NY Times) and while they may only have themselves to feed and water, there’s no one to run to the store when they’re out of saran wrap, or to delegate the dishes to when they are done.


The Age of Convenience AKA: Maxing Out Your Leisure Time
Having gained a handle on the volumes of people now exiting their homes on a daily basis, we can start to examine how long it will be before they return. Thirty-four and half hours is an American’s average working week though, more than a third of us spend 50 hours plus in the workplace (CNN). Then there’s travel time on top of that, not to mention all the things we’re trying to cram in when we’re not at work: family, friends, football, Game of Thrones, haircuts, Instagram, laundry, Lego Ningango, roof repairs, Sudoku, tap dancing classes, World of Warcraft, yoga… The list goes on and for a lot of people ‘cooking a meal from scratch’ or ‘scrubbing the broiler after’ don’t exactly top the charts. It will come as little surprise therefore, that 82% of US consumers cite convenience as an important aspect of dining out(Mintel). Four out of five consumers feel that dining with family and friends is a better use of their leisure time than cooking and cleaning up and 70% of consumers state that their favorite restaurant can produce flavors they simply can’t at home(NRA). Not without a clear weekend, two dozen YouTube videos and around $300-worth of professional catering equipment anyway.


Amongst the vast numbers of kitchen nomads now circling our restaurants and cafes, Millennials are the most prominent tribe. Not only are they the most likely to eat out in the first place (see On the Money below), they are the most probable candidates for dining with co-workers or friends (BCG). This said they are not alone in their desire to dine with others, almost a third of US consumers plan to eat out with loved ones more often over the coming year (MarketForce). However, something that really sets Millennials apart from older demographics is their hunger for social media. It has become a food group unto itself - one that must be consumed regularly - with four out five Millennials stating that they have used free Wi-Fi in a restaurant in the last year (NRA). And whether they’re Snapchatting their brunch or calling an Uber, internet access has become almost as important to them as the menu itself as it means they can eat and catch up with friends – including those who aren’t even physically there.


On the Money
The upside of being time-poor is that you may have a little more money for activities outside of work - or even slap bang in the middle of it - and because there’s no such thing as a free meal, a growing number of those hard earned dollars are being spent on out of home dining. The amounts being spent per purchase of course varies hugely from individual to individual as well as eatery and State. Though New Yorkers look to be parting with the largest sums as a typical dinner out comes in at $48.44 which is $12.14 higher than the national average of $36.30 (Zaggat). Millennials splash almost half (44% or $2,921) of their overall food budget on out of home meals and snacks though, at 40% (or $2,629), post-war Baby Boomers are not far behind them(Forbes). Millennials eat out the most often too – almost 20 times a month or 4.5 times per week (Zaggat) and that doesn’t even take into account the growing breakfast market. For anyone over 35 this figure drops to 12 times a month or 2.8 times per week (BCG). If we look at frequency and spend together it becomes apparent that Millennials are getting the most snack for their buck too. As, while enjoying about a third of their meals out of home, they keep costs down – averaging $12.48 per meal - with budget savvy choices. Conversely older demographics may dine out less but will spend $5.57 more when they do so with an average meal bill of £18.05.

Take-Aways: Convenience is Key
Despite figures dropping in recent months, the National Restaurant Association predicts restaurant-industry sales will reach $798.7 billion in 2017, a 4.3 percent gain over the industry’s estimated sales of $766 billion in 2016. Below are a few take-aways to help keep your share of those billions rolling in.

Essentially your customers fall into one of two categories, they are eating out:
a. Because they want to
OR
b. Because they have to
Either way their time is precious so you should make it as easy and enjoyable for them as possible to spend it with you. Some of them, a lot of them, won’t want to stick around. It’s nothing personal and you should make their exit as simple as possible. If made to order deli subs are your thing, pre-packed popular combos will no doubt be gratefully received by the guy with three minutes until his next conference call. Suggest product pairings to your customers too and ensure meal deal offers are always obvious. Enlist the help of your chiller (lay things out logically), point of sale and other signage - even a friendly member of your team. Because if your customers have just spent a long morning multitasking seven things at once, figuring out which brownie comes with the coffee cake combo may well tip them over the edge.

When it comes to pricing, know your audience. It’s an obvious one we know but worth repeating and if your customer base are mostly Millennial, remember that $12.48 is their average spend for a meal out of home. For the over 35s your looking at $5 more. Some kind of loyalty scheme (good free WI-Fi being the most straight forward) will also help get their business the other 2-4 times per week!

And finally, if languid sit down feasts are what your business was built on ‘dine at home’ kits can provide ‘to-go’ options without having to compromise on your ethos. They not only allow your customers to enjoy their favorite dishes at home whenever they simply can’t stop, they’re tipped to be a major trend in 2017 so you’ll likely see a whole new influx of Hipster-business too!

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