THE DEMAND FOR FOOD AWAY FROM HOME: FULL-SERVICE OR FAST FOOD?

Consumer spending at full-service and fast food restaurants will continue to grow over the remainder of this decade and the next. However, the larger increase is predicted to occur at full-service restaurants. Simulations assuming modest growth in household income plus expected demographic developments show that per capita spending could rise by 18 percent at full-service restaurants and by 6 percent for fast food between 2000 and 2020. The assumed assumed increase in income alone causes such spending to rise by almost 15 percent and 7 percent at full-service and fast food restaurants, respectively. The increasing proportion of households containing a single person or multiple adults without live-at-home children will cause per person spending to rise by another 1 to 2 percent in each of these segments. However, the aging of the population will decrease spending on fast food by about 2 percent per capita.