U.S. restaurant sales continued to strengthen in August, but Americans have begun to dine in less due the spread of the delta variant of COVID-19.
While U.S. restaurant visits are improved overall, on-premises visits are still below pre-pandemic levels, according to new data from The NPD Group. Dine-in visits plummeted 34 percent compared to August 2019 and off-premises orders, which gained significant ground during the pandemic, grew to represent 73 percent of all restaurant orders this August.
Total full-service restaurant visits jumped 20 percent in August compared to August 2020, but fell 9 percent to August 2019. Quick-service restaurant visits, representing the most U.S. restaurant traffic, declined 3 percent compared to August 2019, but rose 2 percent compared to August 2020. Overall restaurant traffic increased by 5 percent, versus a 10 percent decline recorded in August 2020, NPD said. Traffic in August 2021 was still down 5 percent compared to the pre-pandemic level recorded in August 2019.
Larger average check sizes drove a 13 percent increase in U.S. restaurant sales compared to a year ago, and a 3 percent gain in sales compared to August 2019, The NPD Group reported.
Orlando, Florida-based Darden, which operates LongHorn Steakhouse, Olive Garden, and other major restaurant chains, produced better-than-expected earnings in its most recent quarter, but said it was facing supply chain challenges.
Fiscal 2022 first quarter sales jumped 51 percent to USD 2.3 billion for the company, driven by 47.5 percent same restaurant sales growth and the addition of a net increase of 34 restaurants nationally.
“Our sales results were better than expected, requiring us to go out and purchase more product on the spot market – in particular proteins, as our LongHorn and fine dining segments had the largest sales outperformance versus our expectations,” Darden Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer Raj Vennam said on an investor conference call.
Spot prices for proteins were as high as 30 percent above Darden’s contracted rates, Vennman said.
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