Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
or those looking for a more relaxed dining experience. Cuisines at full-service restaurants
have shifted towards Italian, Mexican, Japanese, Thai, Caribbean, and Middle Eastern foods,
as U.S. tastes broaden.
FAST FOOD/QUICK SERVICE
The words “fast” and “quick” not only describe the service provided by these restaurants,
they also describe the rate at which this industry changes. Since 1990, fast service food fi rms
such as McDonald's, Taco Bell, and Wendy's have more than doubled their sales, from
$87 to $195 billion. Established as part of American culture, fast food restaurants have
stepped into the next dimension of customer service by experimenting with the offerings and
specials on their menus, and faster, better means of providing customers with both fast and
nutritious foods. Rising concerns about obesity are leading to new menus. Today's fast food/
quick service restaurants often have central wholesale warehouses and buying offi ces, and
many have expanded internationally as U.S. markets have become saturated.
INSTITUTIONAL FOOD SERVICE
In 2009, over 38,000 fi rms were involved in institutional food marketing, with sales of
$128 billion. This category includes food offered at hotels, schools and colleges, govern-
ment offi ces, corporate eating establishments, airlines, hospitals, etc. Institutional food
services account for an important portion of the food people consume daily. Some types
of institutional food service fi rms expanded rapidly during the 1990s (recreation and enter-
tainment facilities, and retail hosts such as gas stations and bookstores), while sales through
other fi rms in this category were stable or declining (hospitals, vending machines, and
the military). Trends and changes in the institutional food service industry will continue
to refl ect consumer demands for convenience and nutrition. For instance, 30 years ago, it
would have been unusual to see ethnic foods, a food now considered common, on the menu
of a major university's dorm cafeteria.
Food wholesaling
In 2009, food wholesaling represented a $678 billion dollar business conducted by 26,745
wholesalers employing almost 800,000 employees (County Business Patterns). While
there are several ways to categorize the work done by
wholesalers
, three basic categories
capture most fi rms in this industry.
Merchant wholesalers
represent the largest percentage
of food wholesale sales accounting for 70 percent of the total. Merchant wholesalers prima-
rily buy groceries and grocery products from processors or manufacturers, and then resell
those to retailers, institutions, or other businesses.
Manufacturers' sales offi ces and sales
branches (MSBOs)
are wholesale outfi ts typically run by large grocery manufacturers or
processors to market their own products.
Wholesale agents and brokers
are wholesale
operators who buy and/or sell as representatives of others for a commission. Wholesale bro-
kers and agents typically do not physically handle the products, nor do they actually take
title to the goods.
Most wholesale operations focus on sales to retailers, other wholesalers, industrial users,
and, in some cases, the fi nal consumer. A wholesaler may buy directly from the producer
and sell to another wholesaler or food processor. More typically, however, the wholesaler
buys from the food processor or manufacturer and sells to a retailer. The make-up of the
