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Restaurants are responding to a powerful consumer trend: a desire for fresh, made-to-order food, delivered quickly, at prices just above those at fast-food eateries, and served in an atmosphere that makes customers want to hang around.

Panera is one such example that has been spotlighted recently in the book Trading Up: The New American Luxury, by Michael J. Silverstein and Neil Fiske, based on studies by the Boston Consulting Group about the changing preferences of middle-income consumers.

The consultants define “new luxury” as the willingness of those with average household incomes of $50,000 a year to pay higher prices for select higher-quality products that give them emotional satisfaction. In a recent survey of middle-income Americans, the consulting group found that 85 percent said they spent more for premium-quality products. The reasons vary, but they boil down to: It makes them feel better and makes their lives more enjoyable.

One of the most significant changes in European drinking patterns in recent years has been the increase in women?s drinking, the report suggests. Young British women aged between 18 and 24 are by far the largest female consumers of alcoholic drinks in Europe, with annual per capita consumption of 203 litres in 2002 in the UK, compared to only 59 litres amongst young Italian women.

Despite France?s high spend on on-trade drinking, most of this cash clearly comes from men, with per capita consumption among young adult women just 70 litres a year, well below the European average of 104 litres. In fact, France is second only to Italy in the preponderance of male drinkers.

Young Dutch women consume around 107 litres of alcohol per year, while their Swedish counterparts drink 82 litres. German women are second only to the Brits, with annual per capita consumption of 189 litres. The average in the rest of Europe is 93 litres.

All these consumption levels are set to rise, however, with young British women expected to increase their input to 242 litres by 2007, Datamonitor predicts. Once again, however, Spain is likely to show the biggest increase, with consumption of alcoholic drinks increasing by almost 60 per cent between 2002 and 2007 to an annual 115 litres per young adult woman.

?This is partly because Spain is a less mature market and capable of rapid growth as young adult women become economically independent and societal attitudes to women drinking become less censorious,? Russell explained.

Other, more modest, rises are likely to come across the seven countries examined by the report, with German consumption among young women rising to 209 litres and Dutch input reaching 114 litres.

Sweden, France and Italy will still show a marked tendency towards male drinking, with young female consumption increasing to just 95, 78 and 75 litres respectively. [Read more…] about Growing number of young female drinkers accros Europe

The Loop’s lunch and dinner take-out business now accounts for 25 percent to 30 percent of its revenue, up sharply from the 5 percent to 10 percent it constituted 10 years ago.
        “Time is a commodity that two working parents and school-age children don’t have enough of,” said Schneider. “We’re talking about home-replacement meals. It elevates fast- food eating to dining. My generation grew up on fast food and grew out of it.”
        The National Restaurant Association reports that among restaurants with average checks of $25 or more, 70 percent offer carryout options. At the same time, the amount of time preparing meals at home continues to fall, according to an association survey in 2000. Nearly four in 10 adults said they were cooking fewer meals at home and 74 percent of adults said they found more restaurants to choose from than they had two years earlier.
        Outback Steakhouse, a national chain with 18 restaurants in North Florida and South Georgia, is taking advantage of the trend. It offers curbside service that lets customers call in their order and then drive to the restaurant where they park in a designated space to await the delivery of their food.

The spaghetti plate looks similar to any other, except that it has a ‘crater’ in the middle, a little like an egg cup. Eaters use the hole to help wind the spaghetti around their forks.

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