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Important Facts on Restaurants and Dining Out:

Restaurants will provide more than 70 billion meal and snack occasions in 2010.

• 44% of adults say restaurants are an essential part of their lifestyles.
• 65% of adults say their favorite restaurant foods provide flavor and taste sensations that can’t easily be duplicated in their home kitchens.

There are $1.6 billion Restaurant-industry sales on a typical day in 2010.

• 40% of adults agree that purchasing meals from restaurants and take-out and delivery places makes them more productive in their day-to-day life.
• 73% of adults say they try to eat healthier now at restaurants than they did two years ago.
• 57% of adults say they are likely to make a restaurant choice based on how much a restaurant supports charitable activities and the local community.
• 78% of adults say they would like to receive restaurant gift cards or certificates on gift occasions.
• 59% of adults say there are more restaurants they enjoy going to now than there were two years ago.
• 52% of adults say they would be more likely to patronize a restaurant if it offered a customer loyalty and reward program.

On a typical day in America in 2010, more than 130 million people will be foodservice patrons.

• 29% of adults say purchasing take-out food is essential to the way they live.
• 54% of adults say they would be likely to use an option of delivery directly to their home or office if offered by a full service restaurant.
• 78% of adults agree that going out to a restaurant with family or friends gives them an opportunity to socialize and is a better way to make use of their leisure time than cooking and cleaning up.
• 63% of adults say the quality of restaurant meals is better than it was two years ago.
• 56% of adults say they are more likely to visit a restaurant that offers food grown or raised in an organic or environmentally friendly way.
• 70% of adults say they are more likely to visit a restaurant that offers locally produced food items.

Source: National Restaurant Association. 2010 Restaurant Industry Pocket Factbook. Washington, DC: National Restaurant Association, 2010: www.restaurant.org