Food Institute predicts faster growth for foodservice

The Food Institute forecasts that sales at restaurants will grow faster than grocery store sales in 2019.

“An Honest Look at 2019 Food Industry Trends,” a report by Brian Todd, president of The Food Institute, is available online.

Todd, according to a news release, predicts 5.1% growth for foodservice in the coming year and 2.8% growth for retail stores. 

The release said The Food Institute projects plant-based foods, cannabis and updated vending concepts growing in popularity in the next year.

Fuel and driver issues will continue to be problem areas for the distribution sector, while Amazon will remain a company to watch as it expands its capabilities in brick-and-mortar, meal kits, private label and even drone delivery.

“I believe we’ll see many companies following this trend of using technology to update traditional service models, as we see the merging of convenience, local and trying to meet consumer demand for something natural and locally produced,” Todd said in the report.

During a web seminar about the report, analysts with the Blueberry Business Group — a food consulting group — said areas of disruption include food delivery, deep discounters and private labels, voice technology, and the alignment of food and healthcare. The group’s senior advisor Bill Pierrakeas described the drive behind increasing levels of investment in food industry startups, according to a news release.

According to Blueberry Business Group analysts, venture capital investment results from industry giants have been mixed and the strategy of established companies buying emerging competitors once they reach a certain scale is yielding diminishing returns.

Blueberry Business Group predicted food delivery sales will rise an annual average of more than 20% to $365 billion worldwide by 203, up from $35 billion in 2018.

More information on the web event is available online.