Sandwiches and burgers still prove to bring in revenues for both quick-service and full service restaurants. According to market research company The NPD Group, sandwiches and burgers were the only broad food category to post servings growth in 2009.
In a year when restaurant traffic experienced consecutive quarterly declines, NPD foodservice market research finds that U.S. restaurant consumers ate more than 22 billion sandwiches, burgers and wraps.
"The reason is it's one of the few categories that has mass appeal," said Bonnie Riggs, NPD's restaurant industry analyst. "Sandwiches, burgers and wraps are accessible, customizable, affordable, portable and can be dressed up gourmet-style or dressed down."
According to NPD's CREST service, which continually tracks consumer usage of commercial and non-commercial foodservice, total servings of deli/other, chicken and wraps in 2009 were 12 billion, an increase of 1 billion servings since 2005. Total servings of burgers in 2009 were 9.3 billion, an increase of 800,000 servings since 2005.
