One take on the take-out craze

One good idea someone brought up during the first Insight Forum session at the April 3-5 Produce Marketing Association’s Consumer Trends ’08: A Produce Solutions Conference in Newport Beach, Calif., came in response to Harry Balzer’s assertion that packaged take-out meals look to be the blockbuster eating trend for the 21st century. The idea centered on the creation of a special parking area for supermarket customers who want to pick up meals to go from stores’ delis, salad bars and other foodservice-oriented stations.
That’s what restaurants like Chili’s and Applebee’s are already doing, and probably part of the reason restaurant take-out sales have skyrocketed. In fact, Balzer, vice president of the NPD Group, who spoke on “Eating Patterns in America: The Scoop on Who’s Really Eating What — Regardless of What They Say,” explained that from 1984 to 2007, the average number of household take-out visits bounced from 72 to 127 visits annually. By the way, 1989 was the first year take-out visits surpassed on-premise restaurant visits. …
Something I wondered while processing all this information about Americans crawling into their holes to eat: How much of the change is out of convenience, and how much has to do with 9/11? I think some of the trends are driven by fear and anxiety felt by Americans since 9/11. By doing take-out, people can minimize interaction with strangers. The trend toward Internet shopping and online dating services would also appear to support this notion.

Dan Galbraith is sections editor for The Packer and a guest contributor to the Fresh Talk blog.