ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes demand trends, common purchasing arrangements and distribution activities that support the food service industry. The sales team is a vital information link between food manufacturers and restaurant or food service vendors. Restaurants come in many forms from full service to fast food and make up most away-from-home food sales. Demand for fast food has grown at close to 3% per year from 2015 until 2019 but has started to level off while full-service restaurant demand declines. Throughout the world, food delivery now makes up one-third of the global restaurant business and is growing significantly in China followed by the US and Europe; it is expected to be worth US$1 trillion by 2023. Food ordering-only apps such as Deliveroo aggregate orders from a restaurant, which then handles its own delivery. During the pandemic, the hospitality and institutional food services faced many challenges as restaurants, schools and many institutions closed.
