Industry Statistics & Trends

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Wisconsin Restaurant Statistics

• Wisconsin has over 12,900 food services and drinking places. (1)
  
  
• Food and beverage establishments in the state register a total of $7.0 billion in sales. (1)
  
  
• Every $1 spent in Wisconsin eating and drinking places generates an additional $1.10 in sales for the state economy. (2)

Restaurants are integral to the economy, producing tremendous tax revenues for the state.

• The “Food Services and Drinking Places” industry is the largest private-sector employer in the state. (4)
  
  
• 1 in 10 working Wisconsinites is a restaurant employee. (2)

Restaurants create jobs in Wisconsin, ranking among the state’s fastest-growing industries.

• Number three on a list of industries with the most new jobs. (4)
  
  
• Restaurants and taverns added 2,800 jobs in 2010. (5)
  
  
• 6.7% job growth is expected by 2020 (projected). (2)

Wisconsin restaurants are overwhelmingly independent small businesses.

• 91% of eating and drinking places have fewer than 50 employees. (6)
  
  
• And, 2 in 3 establishments employ less than 20 workers. (7)
  
  
• 89.7% of fullservice restaurants in Wisconsin indicated that they are independently owned. (8)
  
  
• Most franchise establishments in the state are independently owned and operated and think of themselves as independent small businesses.

Did You Know?

• Nearly half of all adults have worked in the restaurant industry at some point during their lives. More than 1 in 4 adults got their first job experience in a restaurant. And, more than half of current restaurant industry employees are under the age of 30. (6)
  
  
• Restaurants operate on narrow profit margins – average profit margins (net income before taxes) are only 3% to 9%. (3)
  • Labor costs alone range between 28% and 34% of total restaurant sales. (3)
  • Food and beverage costs represent about 33 cents of every dollar in restaurant sales. (6)
  • It only takes a small increase in costs (labor, food, utilities, etc.) to wipe out a restaurant’s bottom line.
    
    
• Every $1 million dollars spent in Wisconsin’s eating and drinking places generates an additional 34 jobs. (2)

What’s Hot in Fullservice
From the NRA “What’s Hot” Chefs Survey, 2010.

• Locally-sourced meats, seafood and produce
• Sustainability
• Nutritionally-balanced children’s dishes
• Hyper-local (ex: restaurant gardens)
• Gluten-free / food allergy conscious
• Simplicity / back-to-basics

What’s Hot in Quickservice
From the NRA Quickservice Operator Survey, 2010.

• Healthy options in kids meals
• Gluten-free items
• Spicy items
• Locally-sourced produce
• Smoothies
• Organic items

The National Restaurant Association (NRA) conducts research on industry operations, human resources, consumer, economic and analysis of industry-related statistics. Visit the NRA website to purchase research publications.

1. U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2007 Economic Census. Data released June 2010.
2. National Restaurant Association (NRA), based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau. Released 2010. “Eating and drinking places is a Census designation that captures approximately three-fourths of all restaurant and foodservice employment.”
3. 2008 Restaurant Industry Operations Report by Deloitte & Touche, LLC in conjunction with the NRA.
4. Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development data: 2008-2018 Industry Projections.
5. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, State and Area Employment, Hours and Earnings. Extracted February 2011.
6. NRA Statistic. Released 2009.
7. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Career Guide to Industries, 2010-11 Edition.
8. From a national survey by Deloitte & Touche, LLC in conjunction with the NRA.