Overview of the Restaurant

and Foodservice Industry

• This industry has annual sales of over $550 billion dollars.
There are more than 945,000 restaurant and foodservice
operators. The industry employs more than 13 million
people (9 percent of the workforce). That means it is one
of the largest private-sector employers in the United
States.
• Over 57 percent of restaurant and foodservice managers
are women. Approximately 25 percent of eatingdrinking
establishments are owned by women, 15
percentbyAsians, 8 percent by Hispanics, and 4 percent
by African-Americans.
The industry expects to continue to grow over the next
decade, with 14.8 million jobs by 2019.
 Commercial Restaurant and Foodservice Segment
• The commercial segment makes up almost 80 percent of
the restaurant and foodservice industry. Types of
foodservice within this segment include restaurants,
catering and banquets, retail, stadium, and airline and
cruise ships:
 Types of restaurants
• quick-service
• fine-dining
• casual
• theme restaurants
• buffets, and cafeterias.
• Catering and banquets: In the catering and banquet
segment, the menu is chosen by the host of an event for
a specified number of people. Caterers may have their
own facility or may also be located in another business,
such as a hotel or a convention center, and provide
foodservice to that business’s customers. They may also
do off-site catering, which involves preparing food at one
location and delivering it to the guest’s location.
• Retail: Retail stores offer prepared meals that can be
eaten in the store or taken home. These products can be
found in supermarkets, convenience stores, and specialty
shops selling limited items such as coffee, doughnuts,
and candies.
Vending is also included in retail. Vending machines are
available to dispense various types of food, such as sodas,
sandwiches, and candy
• Stadiums: The food offered at stadiums stretches from the
peanuts in the stands to the fine dining in the luxury
suites. Some stadiums have privately run foodservice
operations. However, most use large-scale contractors to
handle the
• business.
• Airlines and cruise ships: In 2007, over 12 million
passengers worldwide took cruises. Anyone who has ever
taken a cruise knows that food is available 24/7 on the ship.
Options range from casual dining and buffets to elegant
dinners to room service. Food selection varies as well, from
steak to vegetarian to children’s meals and pizza. Cruise
ships may serve up to several thousand meals at each
seating.
The dining area on a cruise ship
 Noncommercial Foodservice Segment
• The noncommercial segment represents about 20 percent
of the foodservice industry. This segment prepares and
serves food in support of some other establishment’s
main function or purpose. For example, the cafeteria at a
local university supports the school’s goal of educating
students by serving them meals so that they have the
energy to participate in class and activities.
 Categories in this segment
• schools and universities,
• the military,
• health care,
• business and industry,
• and clubs:
• Schools and universities provide on-campus food
services to students and staff.
• ■ Military bases and ships provide food services to
military personnel. Food is also offered at clubs, such as
an officer’s club.
• ■ Health-care facilities such as hospitals and long-term
care facilities (including nursing homes and independent
living centers for seniors, known as
• assisted living) offer foodservice.
• ■ Businesses and industries offer foodservice as a
convenience to employers
• Businesses and industries offer foodservice as a
convenience to employers and benefit to employees in
manufacturing or service industries. Examples
• include cafeterias, executive dining rooms, and vending
machines.
• ■ Clubs and member-based facilities—golf, city, alumni,
athletic—also offer foodservice as a convenience to their
members and sometimes as a way to help provide the
organization with additional funds.
 Travel and Tourism

. Travel and tourism is defined as the combination of all of

the services that people need and will pay for when they are
away from home. This includes all of the businesses that
benefit from people traveling and spending their money,
such as transportation or restaurants.
Hospitality refers to the services that people use and
receive when they are away from home. This includes,
among other services, restaurants and hotels.
• Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure, or business
purposes, and it has become a popular global leisure
activity.
 Transportation
• 282 b.c.,-Rome conquered the lands surrounding the
Mediterranean Sea, formerly occupied by the Greeks. The
Romans were very different from the discriminating
Greeks. Meals were primarily served in the home.
 The History of Hospitality and Foodservice
• The Real Beginning: Ancient Greece and Rome
2004-the Summer Olympics were held in Greece. More
than 10,000 athletes took part in the games. After practicing
and competing in events, most of the athletes went to
restaurants to eat. But back when the first Olympics were
held in Ancient Greece, this wasn’t possible because
restaurants had not been invented yet.
 The Middle Ages
• The end of the Roman Empire was the beginning of
along, slow period of change in Europe. The victorious
German tribes took Christianity back to Germany.
• The new faith led to two major changes in their way of
life. First, it united Europe into one large church-state
called Christendom.
• Second, it ended the view that gods and spirits inhabited
the forest. The ancient Nordic myths included the belief
• that trees were sacred and could not be cut down and
that diverting river water for agriculture would displease
the gods of the rivers.
• Second, it ended the view that gods and spirits inhabited
the forest. The ancient Nordic myths included the belief
• that trees were sacred and could not be cut down and
that diverting river water for agriculture would displease
the gods of the rivers.
• A feudal society developed. Landowners lived in relative
comfort, unless under attack or out attacking someone
else.
 The Renaissance through the French Revolution
• Partly to show off their wealth, noblemen instructed their
cooks to use large amounts of exotic spices in their foods.
It wasn’t long before merchants in Venice controlled the
spice trade. Because of their location on the Adriatic Sea,
they could easily obtain spices from India and sell them at
very high prices to distributors headed north. Venice
prospered as a seaport and bought and sold spices and
other goods for buyers bound for other destinations.
• haute cuisine (hote kwee-ZEEN)-, an elaborate and
refined system of food preparation.
• 1650-The first coffeehouse, or café,opened in Oxford,
England.
• Guilds, associations of people with similar interests or
professions, were organized during the reign of Louis XIV
in France in an attempt to increase the state’s control over
the economy.
• 1765- a man named Boulanger began serving hot soups
called restaurers(meaning restoratives) for their health-
restoring properties. He called his café a restorante, the
origin of our modern word restaurant.
 Colonial North America
• The first Europeans to settle in North America were city
dwellers poorly equipped for farming. As more people
immigrated to the New World to find their fortunes or to
escape religious persecution, cities along the East Coast
grew. Boston and New York became major centers of trade
1634- an inn in Boston called Cole’s offered food and
lodging to travelers.
 Industrial Revolution
• Back on the other side of the Atlantic, Europe was
importing silver and spices, and finding a large
international market for its own goods, in particular cloth
• made from wool or linen. Turning raw fiber into cloth is a
slow process that requires a lot of different steps. In order
to keep up with the demand, wool merchants developed a
putting-out system of production that created cottage
• industries.
• 1825, inns, taverns, and foodservice facilities located near
railway stations began to grow. Travelers could now reach
remote areas from coast to coast by rail.
 The Gilded Age
• The Renaissance sparked the scientific revolution known
as the Enlightenment, which changed the way knowledge
was obtained and accepted. The new scientific method
relied on information from direct observation and
mathematical logic. This period of intellectual growth in
the 18th century changed the way scientists looked at the
world.
• 1848- gold was discovered in California and people
poured into the state to claim their fortunes. Some
travelers hit the jackpot and, with their newfound wealth,
wanted to enjoy the fine dining that they knew existed in
New York. A number of fine restaurants quickly opened.

cafeteria, an assembly_x0002_line process of serving food

quickly and cheaply without the need for servers.
• The 20th Century By the turn of the century, employment
in the United States was at an all-time high. More and
more people went to work in new factories, stores, and
office buildings. People were therefore eating out more,
especially for lunch.
• 1930s- hotels and fine restaurants started to close. But
the 1930s brought an important advancement in the
foodservice industry.
• 1958- transportation technology advanced and
commercial airlines became a popular and increasingly
economical way of traveling. Builders turned their eyes
toward land near airports as the next new place to situate
hotels, motels, and foodservice facilities.
• The Future
• The spread of civilization, growth of international trade,
and improvements in science and technology all played a
part in making foodservice the successful industry it is
today.
 Activity 1

Write a brief paper on the discovery or advancement that

you consider to be most important to the foodservice
industry in the last 100 years. Justify your
selection.