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In spite of the economic ups and downs of the past year, consumers have found a way to include dining out in their budget, perhaps becoming recession weary and finding restaurants a form of creature comfort. So much the more going forward as the economy begins to pick up.

In this report, Mintel examines restaurant economics and drivers, restaurant and menu trends, and consumer attitudes and habits to provide a glimpse into the future of the dining-out industry. Insights from this report will help operators and foodservice suppliers create high-demand products and build effective marketing messages. All restaurant stakeholders will want to read this report in order to understand:...

Stevia is a botanical that is part of the sunflower family. It’s marketed under several names and in several forms including powdered extracts and liquids. Stevia originally comes from South and Central America, where it’s been used medicinally for centuries by indigenous people. It’s now grown in many parts of the world, with China and Brazil among the largest producers. Stevia production is also being developed in the U.S. and Canada, though currently it’s on a relatively small scale.

Stevia is utilized in foods, beverages, dietary supplements, and personal care products. Early adopters included Japan, where stevioside extracts now account for a significant share of the sweetener market.

Stevia was officially banned from sale in the U.S. as a sweetener in 1991, when the FDA concluded that it was an unsafe food additive. Since the ban, there’s been much speculation that the FDA was influenced by makers of artificial sweeteners, which had just come to market at that time, as well as the sugar lobby, which may have felt threatened by the natural aspect of the sweetener. However, to date, the FDA has declined to release the original petitioner’s affiliation.

All the while, numerous studies on stevia, and its active constituents, proved inconsistent in terms of safety and effects on the human physiology. The biggest nod in favor of stevia came in 2006, when the World Health Organization (WHO) evaluated many studies and concluded that stevioside and reb a are safe.

The market for stevia products in the U.S. changed significantly in December 2008, when the FDA sent “no objection” letters to Cargill and Merisant, agreeing that their reb a extracts from the leaves of the stevia plant are generally recognized as safe (GRAS) for food and beverages. Many other companies have since followed suit.

Additionally, the FDA now approves of companies marketing their stevia products as sweeteners (food) rather than dietary supplements if several criteria are met:

In 2011, the wine market exhibited small growth of 0.9%. The market has experienced a slowdown in growth since 2006, which could be attributed to the recession where wine has suffered in on-premise channels. In contrast, domestic wine has fared well as the “buy local” trend becomes more popular due to budget constraints, as well as low-carbon footprints of the product. This report provides an up-close look at these factors and other issues in the wine market, including:...

Mintel’s exclusive consumer research finds that fast casual restaurants have a modest reach with 55% of respondents visiting a fast casual restaurant in the past month. Frequency of use proves to be steady, averaging 6.18 monthly visits or 1.5 times per week. Notably, availability of fast casual restaurants is a leading deterrent for use.

With total U.S. sales of $24.2 billion expected in 2011, fast casual sales have grown 35% since 2006, producing an impressive 23% growth when adjusted for inflation.. In this report, Mintel presents sales trends and market analysis of fast casual restaurants while incorporating proprietary research featuring consumer attitudes and behaviors toward the market....

As the economy continued to wane in 2010, consumers favored off-premise spirits purchasing for the third straight year. But there were a number of bright spots: after two years of declining sales, high-end spirits rebounded. This has been driven by shoppers’ growing awareness of sophisticated spirits and a trend toward mixing cocktails at home.

Retailers—along with spirits suppliers—also took greater advantage of online and mobile media as a low-cost marketing vehicle that provides direct interaction with customers. On-premise, bars, and restaurants have become savvier about controlling inventory levels, eliminating poorly turning SKUs and creating attractive promotions that do not erode margins.

The recession pushed the restaurant industry into negative growth in 2008 and the two years that followed, according to National Restaurant Association (NRA) data. Positive growth is expected for this year, but restaurants are only slowly regaining their previous strength.

But for quick-service restaurants, the story has been brighter. Sales reached $178.8 billion in 2011, up from $153.6 billion in 2006 for a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.1% (1.1% at inflation-adjusted prices). From 2012-16, Mintel expects sales to continue their upward climb to surpass $215 billion in 2016.

Consumers show deep uneasiness about the future as economic indicators rise and fall. Consumer confidence, as measured by the Conference Board, declined in May 2011, dipped further in June, and improved slightly in July. Unemployment stood at 9.1% in July 2011, compared with 5.8% just three years earlier, in July 2008. Not just the unemployed, but also the underemployed and the employed-but-worried are watching their spending on nonessentials, such as dining out.

This report looks at flavor trends in the US. It all comes back to the menu. If the food doesn’t taste good, customers won’t come back. And if it doesn’t sound appetizing, consumers aren’t going to try a restaurant in the first place. And while restaurant operators and manufacturers want to ensure that they are meeting current customer demands, they also need to continually add to and change their menu dishes to attract new customers and keep pace with competitors and general foodservice trends.

However, any menu additions or changes have to take into account what is occurring outside of a restaurant’s four walls, with the economy, changing demographics, and consumer preferences playing important roles in menu development and flavor trends.

Some of the questions answered in this report include:

• How does the general economy influence menu and flavor development?
• What opportunities do new media present?
• What are the main sources of flavor trends?
• What role does comfort food play in flavor trends?

The casual dining market is expected to produce sales worth $108 billion in 2011, up 8% since 2006. Economic conditions have continued to negatively affect consumer confidence and spending. Eating out is considered by most consumers to be a discretionary expenditure, and as a result, the casual dining market has continued to experience challenging conditions through 2010.

Some of the factors covered in the report include:

• usage of casual dining restaurants by daypart and frequency, as well as insight into why consumers don’t use casual dining restaurants for lunch
• discovery of the most widely used casual dining restaurant chains and usage by daypart
• dollars spent on last visit to a casual dining restaurant during lunch and dinner
• factors that influence casual dining restaurant-goers’ decisions on where to dine, and how consumers rate restaurant performance on these attributes
• types of menu items users would like to see more of at casual dining restaurants.