The U.S. restaurant industry is coming off a year in which it struggled to keep menu prices low due to high labor and operational costs at the same time inflationary pressures led consumers to eat more food at home.
This resulted in several notable bankruptcies, including Red Lobster, TGI Fridays, Rubio’s Coastal Grill, Buca di Beppo, and more.
Some of these challenging trends are likely to continue in 2025, but National Restaurant Association (NRA) Vice President for Research and Knowledge Chad Moutray said there are some avenues for restaurants, including those with seafood-heavy menus, to grow their sales.
Speaking at the 2025 Global Seafood Market Conference in Palm Desert, California, U.S.A., Moutray said one of the top ways to grow sales for the upcoming year will be to prioritize off-premise, or takeout and delivery, sales.
“On-premise sales have rebounded from where they were early in the pandemic but have not recovered to where they were in February 2020,” Moutray said. “The flip of that is true for off-premise. People are getting takeout and delivery on a much more frequent basis, with off-premise sales up about 13 percent since the start of the pandemic.”
He further explained that there is a generational gap between consumers seeking takeout and delivery.
According to NRA data, 67 percent of Gen Z adults, or those between the ages of 18 and 28, say that ordering takeout is an essential part of their lifestyle, compared to just 34 percent of baby boomers. Similarly, around 85 percent of Gen Z adults say they wish they had more choices of restaurants that offer takeout in their area, compared to 49 percent of baby boomers.
Therefore, he explained that investing in a proper takeout and delivery infrastructure – if they haven’t already since Covid-19 – is a good step for restaurants seeking to attract younger consumers and ensure positive performance in the sector this year.
That infrastructure includes ensuring that food is packaged in a way that maintains proper temperature and quality when waiting to be picked up or delivered, as well as offering consumers widely customizable options, according to Moutray.
“Consumers want more off-premise food options, and most are willing to pay more money for it. It’s important to find ways to not only increase the volume of sales but also make it taste like it would in the restaurant,” he said. “If you’re thinking about ways that you can increase off-premise seafood sales, this is certainly some good news for you.”
Even though off-premise provides a good avenue for growth, on-premise transactions still make up most sales in restaurants, so many companies are likely to explore ways to improve that aspect of their business, too, Moutray said. This may include innovative promotions and layouts that feature an increased bar presence like Red Lobster’s new management personnel are trying to push.
Regardless, improved performance is going to become important as labor costs remain a stated problem among restaurant operators who, in tandem, are forced to keep menu prices higher than grocery store prices to stay afloat, Moutray said.
According to Bureau of Labor Statistics data compiled by the NRA, menu prices grew 4.1 percent year over year in 2024 through November, while grocery store prices grew just 1.2 percent over the same period.
Additionally, wholesale food prices rose throughout 2024 and seem to be doing the same going into 2025, according to Bureau of Labor statistics presented by Moutray.
“The challenge for many restaurant operators is that costs are moving in the wrong direction when it comes to actual food costs. We’re seeing overall food costs up around 7 percent year over year,” he said. “This is what’s really keeping a lot of restaurant operators worried about their overall outlook.”
