Consumers in general are eating more healthy foods, including fresh fruits and vegetable. This is a factor in the USA restaurant industry looking forward to a good year in 2013.
Restaurant industry sales are predicted to topexceed $660 billion in 2013. This would be a 3.8 percent increase from 2012, says the annual Restaurant Industry Forecast from the Washington, D.C.-based National Restaurant Association.
This would mark the fourth consecutive year of industry sales increases.
The study sees Americans eating more healthfully when they eat out in 2013.
Over 70 percent of people polled claim they are attempting to eat better at restaurants compared to two years ago. About three-quarters of consumers state healthful menu options are an important factor when choosing a restaurant.
Restaurants are making changes to meet the demand for more healthy meals. Around 86 percent of those polled stated eating establishment are offering a wider variety now than two years ago.
2013 is expected to be the 14th straight year in which restaurant industry employment outpaces overall USA employment, the forecast reads.
Restaurants are forecast to employ 13.1 million people in 2013, making the industry the nation’s second-largest private-sector employer.
In 2012, restaurants added jobs at a rate of three percent more than double the overall USA employment rate of 1.4 percent. In 2013, restaurants expected to add jobs at a 2.4 percent rate, .9 percent more than the expected overall rate.