News

Families with kids making fewer restaurant visits

December 17, 2014

According to new research from The NPD Group, families with kids have made 1 billion fewer visits to US restaurants in the past six years. This consumer base represents 32 percent of US households and $83.7 billion of total restaurant sale.

NPD's "Parties with Kids: Motivating More Visits" report cites a number of reasons behind the drop, including cost, value for the money, environment, convenience and menu offerings.

Most important to parents is the environment: 84 percent of parents surveyed said they are much more or somewhat more likely to visit a restaurant if it offers a kid-friendly environment.

Families with older kids place more importance on value since these kids’ appetites are changing – eating more, ordering outside the kids menu – making it more expensive to dine out.  Families with younger kids care more about the restaurant environment and menu offerings because younger diners need to be entertained and parents are more involved with what their kids eat.

"Restaurants are leaving money on the table by not capturing more families with kids' visits," NPD's Bonnie Riggs said in a news release. "The good news is that there are solid tactics that operators can employ, with the help of manufacturers, in attracting families back to the dining table: emphasizing the value components of menus; creating a kid-friendly environment; offering fast and attentive service; and, addressing food preferences kids have at different ages."