The NPD Group just released its third quarter global restaurant industry report, which reflects each's geography's economy. For example, during Q3, China experienced double-digit gains in foodservice visits, a testament to the growing economy in the country.
Also during the quarter, Canada's traffic was up by 1 percent. Conversely, stagnant economies in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Spain contributed to each market's traffic declines in Q3.
"The global consensus seems to be that things aren't looking too optimistic," said Bob O'Brien, global senior vice president foodservice. "Consumer confidence is weak and whether it's concern for inflation in China, fatigue from propping the economy up in Japan, or continued high unemployment in Spain, consumers aren't exhibiting a great deal of optimism, and the foodservice markets around the world are lackluster as a result."
It wasn't all bad news for these areas, however. Foodservice spending was up in Australia, France and Germany. It was also up in Canada, China, the United Kingdom and in the United States.
According to NPD's CREST, which tracks global foodservice usage, spending was flat in Japan and France, and declined in Italy and Spain.
"Although stable, the Japan restaurant industry isn't experiencing the growth it realized after the Great Eastern Earthquake in March 2011," said Kimiharu Satoh, director, NPD Japan Foodservice. "At that time, Japanese consumers were making efforts to consume goods and services to support the economy, but after a while this effort has faded away and as a result Japan experienced negative economic growth for the first time in five quarters."
Across markets, the biggest bright spot during the quarter – in terms of traffic gains – was the quick-service segment. The QSR segment increased its share of total industry traffic in China, Canada, Japan, UK and the U.S.
Also growing across the global market is the breakfast daypart, which experienced gains in Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Japan and the UK.
Lunch traffic was up in China, France and Japan.
Read more about trends and statistics.
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