The Big Picture: A look at the industry in 2014

For the third consecutive year, FoodService Director’s The Big Picture research project has gathered intel on issues of importance to operators in all segments of non-commercial foodservice. Reprising research conducted in 2012, this year FSD surveyed more than 400 operators in the B&I, college & university, school, hospital, long-term care and senior living segments about their menus, operations, employees, retail and health & wellness.

Although comparisons with the data from two years ago revealed no seismic shifts in operator challenges and customer preferences, there were indications of possible trends and a couple of anomalies. Overall, the data stand as a good benchmark for non-commercial operators.

In this issue, we report on menu trends in breakfast; snacks and beverages; how operators feel about social media, food trucks and local gardens; and their views on employee issues and challenges, among other topics. In January, we’ll report the data from our Health & Wellness survey, and in February we’ll present our snapshot of the retail component of foodservice. 

Construction and renovation

 The social network

 Are food trucks the wheel deal?

What's on the menu

Employees - Who are they?

 The right staff, baby