US-based Technomic, a research and consulting firm, has published a report focusing on the opportunity and challenges facing the US foodservice industry.

The report is designed to aid international companies with an interest in the US foodservice industry, it said.

This operator-focused report, "Entering the U.S. Market: A Guide for Foodservice Operators", is a key addition to Technomic's existing core suite of services supporting US market entry.

The essentials of understanding the US market include: foodservice landscape review; state of the industry and future outlook; traits of leading restaurant chains; understanding operator challenges; identifying core consumers; and menu category incidence, said the report.

Sara Monnette, vice president of innovation, Technomic, said: “Opportunity assessment for international operators looking to enter the US market has long been a core capability of ours.”

“It's increasingly apparent that there is a need for syndicated research to assist restaurant and retail operators looking to plan and execute a market entry strategy,” he added.

The key report insights include: Industry projections, with total US foodservice expected to account for 64% of the projected industry growth over the next five years; attributes of successful chains, including fresh food, first-rate decor and flexible offerings; areas of opportunity when targeting consumers, such as educating them on new ethnic flavours and ingredients; percentage of each demographic that visits restaurants and retail, with 40.8 per cent of millennials visiting fast-casual restaurants at least once a month.

Technomic also provides a proprietary framework to guide operators from initial concept positioning to go-to-market strategy development, said a statement from the company.

The company's US Market Entry programme is the model which can be used due to Technomic's deep industry expertise of 50 years serving and studying the US foodservice industry and working with the world's largest restaurant operators, suppliers and distributors. While there are many other US-based firms that offer market information, it said.

Patrick Noone, executive vice president, Technomic, said: “We look forward to providing international operators with foundational information on the foodservice industry in the US to support their business decisions to enter the US marketplace.”

“This along with our custom advisory services will allow companies to understand their opportunity and challenges as they embark on international growth initiatives,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service