To provide greater visibility into sales trends in restaurants and bars, Technomic Inc. and Restaurant Sciences, LLC have partnered to deliver the industry's only credible and comprehensive suite of food and beverage tracking services.

"Combining the analytical and consultative expertise of Technomic with the transaction detail developed by Restaurant Sciences will provide powerful tools to both operators and suppliers," says Darren Tristano, executive vice president at Technomic. "Our programs will deliver very current and granular point of sale (POS) information coupled with deep insights into consumer purchases and behaviors in restaurants and bars. This level of intelligence will provide real momentum and a sharp competitive edge to food and beverage companies' strategic initiatives."

"This is such a great new partnership for our industry, providing immediate first-ever benefits," adds Chuck Ellis, CEO of Restaurant Sciences. "We're excited to offer an integrated picture of patron, place, and product — a dynamic view of the industry that can range at once from national trends to individual purchases. Together, we offer nearly 50 years of deep analytic and consultative experience, combined with the most cutting-edge Big Data product and transaction standardization, and business intelligence tools. This partnership benefits from hundreds of man-years in combined experience at every level, in every aspect of on-premise food and beverage."

Syndicated and custom programs will involve analysis of key metrics around guest occasions, presented in accessible formats, and including actionable insights. Strategic services will include promotional modeling and tracking, as well as price elasticity and competitive positioning analysis and much more. Among the initial programs developed through the partnership are sales tracking tools and resources specific to adult beverage sales in restaurants and bars.

"Adult beverage is a significant growth opportunity for restaurants," says Tristano. "Technomic's robust DRINK database of adult beverage metrics and its rich insights into on-premise trends, together with Restaurant Sciences' analytics, will shine a bright spotlight into what's really happening on-premise. Both suppliers and operators will, for the first time, be able to make fact-based decisions about on-premise products and programs."

For more than 45 years, Technomic has tracked the foodservice industry, and is a leading research and consulting firm serving the food, beverage, and foodservice industries. Resources such as its annual report on the Top 500 restaurant chains and MenuMonitor tracking of more than 3,400 restaurant menus reveal key marketplace trends and brand performance information, while its adult beverage database provides crucial on-premise and off-premise metrics. The National Restaurant Association has partnered with Technomic to bring on-premise spirits, wine, and beer information to its members and also to develop events designed to enhance operators' industry intelligence, such as the recent Fast Casual Trends & Directions Conference.