The recession’s silver lining
July 17th, 2008 by Cliff Bostock in News
Although I found the new Fourth and Swift beautiful, one thing about its interior shocked me: Its size. Even in the best of times, I’d expect a restaurant that large to have difficulty filling up. With the economy tanking, that’s going to be even harder.
Generally, the recession is having an immediate effect on the restaurant industry. But it’s not all bad, according to Karlene Lukovitz of MediaPost.com. She has written an interesting article that outlines a few surprising effects.
Chief among them is a boost to local and organic ingredients:
In the past, buying food at farmers’ markets was more expensive, but soaring fuel prices are now giving the cost edge to local growers, who do not have to factor long-distance transportation into their prices. And as more budget-conscious consumers turn to farmers’ markets, more such markets are in turn springing up around the nation…
In addition, more consumers are buying less expensive private-label organic brands, which are becoming increasingly available not only through pioneers such as Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, but more mainstream retailers. Examples include Stop & Shop’s Nature’s Promise. And Target’s Archer Farms. “People don’t want to give up their organics, but as the recession worsens, they’re seeking out cheaper organics,” sums up Ramin Ganeshram [a restaurant trends analyst].
In response, retailers are expanding their lines of private-label organics even more rapidly, to encompass everything from milk to chocolate bars. And while the economy is currently driving the acceleration in consumer demand and new SKU’s within the private-label organics sector, these buying patterns “will become so entrenched that they will be here to stay,” says the trends analyst.
She also notes that ethnic restaurants are booming. With travel increasingly unaffordable, ethnic restaurants offer a brief “passport” to another culture. It’s always amazed me that people will go to so-called fusion restaurants and pay big prices for food they could consume on Buford Highway for a fraction of the cost.
I think people are also catching on that ethnic restaurants provide an inexpensive, usually healthier alternative to fast food, although sales of that are also increasing due to the recession.
Lukovitz also notes one of my regular complaints: the “tapafication” of menus:
This trend began in part as a response to meeting the preferences of 18- to-30-year-old Millennials who tend to be “opportunity eaters” or “grazers” and often opt for non-traditional food choices, such as eating waffles for dinner….With health- and weight-conscious consumers cutting back on sweets, restaurants also spotted smaller portions as a way to successfully tempt customers into springing for a dessert, even at big-portion prices.
Read the entire article here.
(Photo of Gray’s, a hot dog joint in New York, from gothamist.com.)
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July 17th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Mmmmmm Gray’s Papaya. I grew up blocks from there and grew up on those marvelous snappy dogs.
thanks for taking me home with the picture.
July 18th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
When I was in New York a few weeks back, I took a much needed vacation from eating (I often do this on vacation). At about 3 pm while walking back from the West Village to the East, I realized I hadn’t eaten anything all day. Like a beacon from God, Gray’s Papaya appeared in front of me…dripping mustard as I made my way down 9th st I remembered how I used to run up from the West 4th subway stop late at night to grab a dog while waiting for the train back to Brooklyn. We’d race up and back, hoping we wouldn’t miss the one train that hour. Sometimes we did, but it was still worth it.