SHFM report: Check averages up, participation flat in B&I

Breakfast check averages at corporate dining locations posted another double-digit increase in 2014, continuing a trend that has seen this metric on a decided upward slope over the past half dozen years. That’s according to the 2015 Industry Standards and Benchmark Comparisons report prepared for the Society for Hospitality and Foodservice Management by the Corporate Dining Inc. consulting and research firm.

Other findings among the comprehensive set of data in the report include a rise in lunch check averages, though not quite as much as breakfast. Breakfast check averages increased 16.3 percent overall from 2012 to 2014 while lunch check averages increased only 7.6 percent over the same period, closing in on the $5 mark with a final overall 2014 average of $4.95.

Also notable is that while check averages for these dayparts were rising, participation rates were mostly flat. Breakfast actually showed a slight decline, from 24.2 percent to 22.6 percent, while lunch crept up less than a percent, from 38.9 percent to 39.6 percent, between 2012 and 2014.

One other notable finding in the report is the growth of morning and afternoon breaks, with 34.2 percent of facilities surveyed reporting that they offered a morning break in 2014—up from 27.4 percent in 2012—while 28.7 percent offered afternoon breaks in 2014, as opposed to 24.1 percent in 2012.

Contact Mike Buzalka at [email protected]