Accelerate your insight strategy with this in-depth report on foodservice disruptors in the US. Pulling together extensive research, wide industry knowledge, and key data points, Mintel’s foodservice industry expertise delivers everything you need to know about the evolving disruptive restaurant landscape.
US Foodservice Disruptors – Current Landscape
Diners’ perspective on disruptive restaurant technologies is complicated. They prioritize and appreciate consistency, speed, and convenience, yet they are wary of technology in foodservice that feels too unfamiliar or invasive. They appreciate technology like personalized suggestions but are cautious about privacy concerns and app fatigue. Innovations in the restaurant industry that make off-premise dining more accessible and convenient are popular with diners, yet half of consumers feel technology is ruining hospitality.
Foodservice is undergoing a transformation, and as more of the consumer journey moves to digital interfaces, operators are tasked with navigating the divide between consumer needs and tech innovations. The grounding element in this rapidly changing landscape is technology that enriches rather than dominates the dining experience. Consumers still want to be able to choose between fast, efficient dining or a slower, experiential meal, gain awareness about how restaurants handle food as well as data, and access a personalized experience at value.
The main challenge that restaurants face is balancing the introduction of advanced technologies with the inherent warmth and personal touch of dining. Operators must prioritize staying agile, integrating innovations that genuinely add value while maintaining the essence of hospitality.
US Foodservice Market Statistics
- Consumer attitudes toward innovation in the restaurant industry: Invasive technologies in restaurants are unappealing to most. Importantly, there is a noticeable limit to how much consumers are willing to sacrifice for convenience: personalization is desired with 30% seeking tailored order suggestions, but robot servers and face and voice recognition are met with cautious curiosity. Most will need convincing.
- Restaurant industry disruptors and the use of AI: Restaurants are bringing AI into their operational frameworks, with figures showing increased use across some areas over the past year, and 35% of non-users wanting to integrate it. Quick service restaurants (QSRs) and fast casuals are using AI for customer engagement through loyalty programs and tailored sales strategies. There is a trend of operators deploying AI intentionally and strategically, but a slight overall decline suggests customer-facing AI solutions still need refining.
- The changing role of technology in foodservice: High-tech trashcan equipment providers like Leanpath Inc, Winnow Solutions Ltd. and Orbisk B.V. are giving retailers solutions to reduce food waste. AI will also help to correct ordering and portion sizing for restaurants. For example, unfinished fries on Carnival’s cruise ships led them to revisit the size of the serving. AI waste solutions look to make kitchens smarter and impact efficiency in cost and operations.
US Foodservice Disruptors Market Report – What’s Inside?
Key Topics Analyzed in the Report
- Consumer interest in and usage of disruptive restaurant technologies
- Attitudes toward disruptive foodservice concepts
- Updates on disruptive concepts launched in the past
- How technology is redefining hospitality
Meet the Expert Behind the Analysis
This report was written by Varchasvi. Varchasvi joined Mintel in 2021 as an Analyst for US Foodservice and Mintel Menu Insights. Prior to joining Mintel, she completed her MBA from the University of Notre Dame with concentrations in Marketing and Strategy.
Diners are seeking transparency and reassurance that technologies will enhance the restaurant experience while retaining its fundamental warmth and personal touch.
Varchasvi
Research Analyst
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Executive Summary
- What you need to know
- Market predictions
- What consumers want & why
- Opportunities
- Transitioning from traditional to tech-enabled requires human touch
- Offer more choices without adding to operational complexity
- Let user-friendliness guide tech adoption
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Market Dynamics
- Market context
- The unemployment rate slightly edged up, but job growth remains solid
- Graph 1: unemployment rate, 2019-24
- Nearly 40% of consumers have seen their financial situations change for the better in the past year
- Graph 2: change in financial situation over the past 12 months, 2024
- Market drivers
- Current and potential regulatory/legislative changes
- Restaurant employment is regaining its appeal
- Graph 3: hires, job openings and quit rates in accommodation and foodservices sector, 2024
- Successful AI integration will pave the way for more customer-facing AI solutions
- Graph 4: AI usage among restaurant operators, 2024
- Voice ordering solutions have room for improvement
- The downsides of an increasingly digital foodservice landscape: social media and consumer trust
- The downsides of an increasingly digital foodservice landscape: risk of data breaches
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Consumer Insights
- Consumer fast facts
- Restaurant technology outlook
- Diners have embraced restaurant technology
- Graph 5: restaurant technology outlook, 2021-24
- Older generations need a helping hand to adopt restaurant tech
- Graph 6: restaurant technology outlook, by generation, 2024
- Bring more awareness to tech’s transformative impact
- Graph 7: restaurant technology outlook, by area, 2024
- Ordering considerations
- Diners need restaurants to be reliable
- Graph 8: factors important when ordering from restaurants, 2024
- Income plays a role in whether “high-speed” or “high-quality” will resonate with diners
- Graph 9: factors important when ordering from restaurants, by income, 2024
- Diners prioritize familiarity over novelty
- Graph 10: factors important when ordering from restaurants, net – any rank, 2024
- Multicultural consumers may be pioneering trends in technology adoption
- Graph 11: factors important when ordering from restaurants – net – any rank, by race/ethnicity, 2024
- Restaurant technology experience
- When convenience doesn’t cut it: consumers’ mixed response to restaurant technologies
- Graph 12: restaurant technology usage and interest, 2024
- Millennials, Gen Z welcome tech; older generations hesitate
- Graph 13: restaurant technology usage and interest – net – any usage, by generation 2024
- Inclusivity requires maintaining traditional ordering and payment
- Graph 14: restaurant technology usage and interest – have not used and not interested in using, by generation, 2024
- Menu item interest
- Curious diners savor affordable variety
- Graph 15: menu item interest, 2024
- Offering variety and comfort requires a balancing act
- Graph 16: menu item interest, by generation, 2024
- Consumers’ lifestyles define their openness to foodservice innovation
- Graph 17: menu item interest, by area, 2024
- Restaurant technology interest
- Comfort and convenience may clash
- Graph 18: restaurant technology interest, 2021-24
- Meet multicultural diners’ personalization and pricing needs through tech
- Graph 19: restaurant technology interest, by race/ethnicity, 2024
- Speed or variety? Dining tech depends on location
- Graph 20: restaurant technology interest, by area, 2024
- Attitudes
- The modern diner wants transparency
- Graph 21: disruptor attitudes – part 1, 2024
- Personalization ≠ personal touch
- Graph 22: disruptor attitudes – part 1, by area, 2024
- Is tech overshadowing the essence of hospitality?
- Graph 23: disruptor attitudes – part 2, 2024
- Multicultural consumers don’t think so
- Graph 24: disruptor attitudes – part 2, by race or ethnicity, 2024
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Innovation and Marketing strategies
- Revisiting disruptive concepts
- An update on operators that tested disruptive technologies
- Technology tests continue
- Innovative restaurant concepts and strategies
- AI and crypto solutions abound
- Tech gives familiar concepts a boost
- Sustainability may be best targeted towards loyal, habitual customers…
- …but high tech, BOH solutions may make an even bigger impact
- Noteworthy menu launches
- More is more: over the top menu items satisfy the craving for novelty
- Consumer-driven trends make it onto menus
- Marketing and advertising
- McDonald’s Value Deal disrupts the QSR landscape…
- …starting a chain of value deal launches
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Appendix
- Consumer research questions
- Consumer research methodology
- Generations
- Abbreviations and terms
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