The casual restaurant industry is growing with the rise of Americans interest in unique food, family dinning traditions, and lifestyle changes. According to smartmoney.com, the casual restaurant industry is estimated to grow 13% in 2011 and 17.20% in 2012. Americans have come to rely on the industry for convince, a family friendly atmosphere, and the food. Some of the many attributes of the causal restaurants industry is the past history, the consumer and menu trends, and what the market for the industry is.
History
The causal restaurant industry has adapted to the change in Americans habits and lifestyles. Some of the main restaurants that help define the industry is Red Lobster, Oliver Garden, and the Cheese Cake factory. They cater to the general needs of their consumers a family friendly place, good food, and clean environment.
The industry has drastically changed with industrialization and globalization throughout the century. In the 60’s in rural America the automobile and intercontinental highway system helped expand industrialization. Before that time in suburban America it was common to have dinner at home, it was a treat to go out to dinner. With cars families were able to go out more often to the mom and pop restaurants.
With the culture changes of women entering the workplace, more families had two parents working all day. The parent did not have time to make dinner so instant food and restaurants were a alternative. The interstate highway allowed for a effect way of transportation and communication of goods and services. Food became cheaper due to mast manufacturing processes and easy disruption. With the creation of fact food chains, like McDonalds and a culture shift in America, restaurants became more comm...
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...mated that Dine Equity will post a profit of $1.15 billion in March 2011 and a $4.27 billion profit in December 2012. The company is projected to grow 14.20% in 2011 and 6.80% in 2012.
Conclusion
The casual restaurant industry follows the American and now worldly processes of indoctrination and globalization. The indoctrination brought a need and a new lifestyle that the causal restraint industry thieved with. McDonalds, Applebee’s, and many other restraints have adopted and become world phenomenons. The casual restaurants industry will continue to grow because consumers need easy meals and want options and excitement. The age of mom and pop low quality restaurants is quickly vanishing and being replaced by the chain restaurant. In the future restaurant expansion, culture, and theme originality will ultimately decide who succeeds in the restaurant industry.
In the book Fast Food Nation: The Darks Side of the All-American Meal, Eric Schlosser claims that fast food impacts more than our eating habits, it impacts “…our economy, our culture, and our values”(3) . At the heart of Schlosser’s argument is that the entrepreneurial spirit —defined by hard work, innovation, and taking extraordinary risks— has nothing to do with the rise of the fast food empire and all its subsidiaries. In reality, the success of a fast food restaurant is contingent upon obtaining taxpayer money, avoiding government restraints, and indoctrinating its target audience from as young as possible. The resulting affordable, good-tasting, nostalgic, and addictive foods make it difficult to be reasonable about food choices, specifically in a fast food industry chiefly built by greedy executives.
There was also an immense increase in advertisement In the 1920s. Manufacturers now realized that women controlled most of the spending in the household so companies marketed their products to them. Thus a new consumer culture was born. The new technologies advertised included refrigerators, movies, radios, automobiles, deodorants, and toasters. These new consumer goods were created to make life easier and more enjoyable. The middle class had more disposable income to enjoy these...
A brief summary of the changes from the 1920’s is provided in this source. The article discusses the birth of mass culture and how an economy of automobiles is born. The site also discusses social and political changes along with the economic growth seen during this era.
The bureaucratization of business in the 1920’s meant that more people could be employed in higher paying white-collar jobs than before, including, for the first time, housewives. This new income combined with the reduced prices for goods that resulted from mechanized production, assembly lines and a general decrease in the cost of technology created a thriving consumerist middle class that went on to fuel the economy in all sectors, especially the upper classes. Likewise, during World War II Americans saved up around 150 billion dollars, and this sum combined with the income of the GI Bill allowed normal people to buy expensive things, from houses to cars to electronics to education at a rapid rate, fueling the trademark prosperity of the 1950’s. The new automobile culture of the 50’s spawned new businesses that catered to mobile Americans, such as nicer and more standardized hotels like Holiday Inn, and drive-up restaurants like McDonalds. Just as the culture of the 1920’s was transformed by modernist ideas, the world of the 1950’s was reinvigorated by the introduction of the automobile to the middle class....
From a study completed by Chicago-based Research International USA completed a study called “Fast Food Nation 2008. The panel consisted of 1,000 respondents of ages 16-65 who provided their inputs with an online survey which was conducted between March 13 through 2008. Which was based on results on fast food restaurants like McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s are gaining popularity even through the economic hardship and recession. Marketing strategy has become more of influence on kids and young American’s. As population grows and the demand increases of fast food restaurants are expanding their stores to capturing more consumers. Fast food chains are also willing to change their menus to continue to gain and retain repeating customers. With each generation that passes, brings fast food chains into more homes and continues impacting lives.
The American life has been transformed by the fast food industry not just changing the American diet but also the culture, workplace, economy, and the landscape. “Today about half of the money used to buy food is spent at restaurants-mainly fast food restaurants.” (Schlosser) This could be due to the fact that about two-thirds of working women are mothers. The impact of fast food on the American culture is transparent when just looking at McDonald’s. McDonald’s has become the world’s most famous brand; the golden arches are more known than the Christian cross. “A survey of American schoolchildren found that 96 percent could identify Ronald McDonald.” (Schlosser) McDonald’s is responsible for 90 percent of new jobs in The United States. The landscape has changed due to the fast food ...
B. The purpose of this project is to research the evolution in American cuisine throughout the 1900s, towards a more convenience-based pattern of food consumption. The modernization of the United States, particularly in terms of the workforce, will be examined as it relates to a changing diet. Finally, some effects of these changes will be described.
Customers buy when they feel it is necessary giving them the upper hand on the industry. Bargaining power of suppliers: In the quick- service restaurant, the suppliers vary. They really do not rely distributors as large restaurants do. Threat of new substitutes: The restaurant industry is segmented into many parts: full service restaurants ($120 billion); quick- service restaurants ($110 billion); away-from-home managed institutions, examples: food services for schools and hospitals ($21 billion); and other food industries ($106 billion). (Marshall Jones, 1999). Rivalry among competi...
· increase in the fast-casual segment that includes restaurants that offer deli sandwiches and more upscale meals with more comfortable surroundings but faster
Food is an important part of popular culture, and the beliefs, practices, and trends in a culture affect its eating practices. The proportion of money spent on food eaten away from home, as well as the number of restaurants, has been increasing since the second half of the twentieth century. People may dine at formal, sit-down restaurants, at fast-food eateries, at cafes, or they may purchase food from street vendors. There has been an “Americanization” of diets through the growth of fast-food restaurants.
Restaurants provide homogeneous products, though service delivery may differ from one place to another depending on the caliber of regular customers registered over a period of time as well as the target market. This means in most cases, service delivery will remain the main factor behind success of any enterprise in the hospitality industry.
To begin with, for the fast food industry around the world, the leading fast food chains; marketing information is wrapped around from convenience location, changing preference, quality of food, pricing of fast food, potential customers, age of the customers, menu selection and diversification and last of all ' superior service.
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. N. pag. Print.
Street vendors and caterers were available for people back then. Medieval travelers were able to go eat at inns, taverns, or monasteries. These forms of food services later improved during the time of the Industrial Revolution. They became the modern food services we know today due to the advances in technology, allowing mass production of foodstuffs, quicker distribution of goods, safer storage facilities, and better, more efficient cooking appliances. When transportations like cars, trains, and trucks arrived, it caused a high demand for more public restaurants.
The restaurant industry has become quite competitive in recent times. In an effort to cut costs restaurants are taking serious measures to improve their performance in relation to their competitors. Two of the most important steps that restaurants have undertaken in recent years are: