The Restaurant Industry

Today's Restaurant Industry

The restaurant industry runs the gamut from gourmet restaurants to hot dog stands. The National Restaurant Association (NRA) estimated 2009 food services sales $566 billion, and the industry employed 13 million people in 945,000 establishments. The overall impact of the industry on the U.S. economy exceed $1.5 trillion. Restaurant industry sales equal four percent of the U.S. gross domestic product.The percentage of the food dollar spent away from home is 48 percent. On a typical day in the United States, 130 million individuals are patrons of food service establishments.

The restaurant industry is truly an equal opportunity employer. It employs more minority managers than any other industry:57 percent are woman, 14 percent are African-American, and 16 percent are Hispanic. Someone entering the food service field might work for a small, independent operator who runs a fine-dining restaurant, pizza parlor, or ice cream stand.

Restaurant Industry

Restaurant Industry Segment 

The restaurant includes many different types of facilities and market. For reporting and other purposes. the industry can be divided into the following segment:

• Eating and drinking places

• Lodging

• Transportation

• Recreation and sports

• Business and industry

• Education

• Health care

• Retail

• Correction food service

• Military food service

• Contractors