Against tough competition from other sandwiches and flat to declining restaurant traffic, burgers ordered at restaurants and foodservice outlets in the United States had a banner year in 2014, according to the NPD Group, a foodservice market research information company based in Chicago. It calculates that there were nine billion burgers served last year, an increase of three percent compared to prior year.
Corresponding with the surge in orders at restaurants were ground beef shipments from distributors to restaurants and other foodservice outlets. Bulk ground beef unit shipments to total foodservice outlets increased by two percent, reports NPD’s SupplyTrack, a monthly service that tracks every product shipped from major broadline distributors to foodservice operators. Bulk ground beef case shipments to quick service restaurants increased by three percent, advanced four percent to quick service hamburger restaurants (which drive 70% of bulk ground beef sales), and one percent to full service restaurants.
The burger category’s gain is the sandwich category’s loss. Sandwich servings overall declined by two percent in 2014 compared to 2013, a servings volume loss of 201 million, finds NPD. Grilled chicken sandwiches, which tend to be the chief alternative to burgers, had a challenging year as servings declined nine percent, a loss of 129 million servings.
Burger serving increases also outpaced foodservice traffic growth in 2014, which was flat for the total foodservice industry and quick service restaurants, and declined by one and three percent, respectively, at casual dining and family dining (midscale) restaurants. Visits to quick service hamburger restaurants, at which burgers were included in 51 percent of orders, were down three percent though hamburger servings were up three percent.
Although burgers typically aren’t a top item ordered at casual dining restaurants – only 11 percent of casual dining orders included a burger – burger servings increased by four percent. More burgers were added to casual dining restaurant menus to offset higher beef prices and the need to charge more for beef entrees; and consumers chose burgers over higher priced beef entrees. Beef entree servings declined by eight percent at casual dining restaurants, a servings volume loss of 55 million, reports NPD.
“The success of burgers in 2014 was a combination of factors,” said Bonnie Riggs, NPD’s restaurant industry analyst. “Quick service restaurant chains launched new burger items, casual dining restaurants added more burger items to the menu to offset higher beef costs, and Americans simply love their burgers.”
About the NPD Group
The NPD Group provides global information and advisory services to facilitate better business decision making. By combining unique data assets with industry expertise, it helps clients track markets, understand consumers, and drive profitable growth.
