American consumers are ordering takeout more than ever before and they're also doing something else that is new - they're skipping fast feeders and other quick and cheap outlets for more upscale culinary fare.
According to a USA Today article, fast casual and fine dining establishments have come to realize that a growing number of consumers want what's on restaurants menus, they just want to eat it off-premises.
"People used to go to restaurants to eat," Harry Balzer of the NPD Group, said. "Now, they go out to get food to go."
According to NPD, more than half of all meals ordered from restaurants were for takeout in 2006. The typical American ate 81 meals inside a restaurant while 127 orders were to-go.
Darra Goldstein, editor in chief of Gastronomica, told USA Today, "The meal is not something that Americans see as primary in their lives. Eating is something they do while they're doing something else."
Today, restaurants including Outback Steakhouse, the Cheesecake Factory, and P.F. Chang's China Bistro are among the eateries that now offer curbside pickup for consumers.
Outback offers the service at all its 801 restaurants and curbside pickup now accounts for 12 percent of the chain's total sales compared to three percent when it was first introduced 10 years ago.
Discussion Questions: Do you see the demand for higher quality (and priced) takeout food continuing to grow? What does this trend mean for retailers such as supermarkets and convenience stores trying to compete in the takeout area?