For many countries around the globe, the remaining months of 2015 were filled with turmoil of various kinds, but in spite of this chaos, citizens continued to dine out and fuel the global foodservice industry’s slow and steady growth, reports The NPD Group, a leading global information company. Customer traffic made strong contributions to overall consumer spending in most of the markets tracked by NPD’s CREST, which continually tracks consumer use of foodservice outlets in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Russia, Spain, the U.S, and now Brazil and Korea.

Australia, China, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Spain and the U.S. posted traffic gains, and France and Japan joined Canada and Russia with declining traffic counts in the last quarter of 2015. Higher average eater checks made a noteworthy contribution to consumer spending growth in most of the countries tracked by NPD. The modest visit recovery that France began in the third quarter of 2015 came to a dramatic halt by the tragic Paris attacks on November 13, but consumer spending remained steady due to a slight increase in average eater check size.    

Quick service visit growth was the primary contributor to total traffic growth in nearly all countries tracked by NPD. Japan continued to struggle in the last quarter losing visits in all foodservice segments, including quick and full service outlets, retail and non-commercial. Full service restaurant visits declined in Australia, Canada, China, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the U.S.

“Unfortunately the last quarter of 2015 didn’t bring the best of conditions or a high enough level of consumer confidence to bolster more growth for the global foodservice industry,” says Bob O’Brien, senior vice president, global foodservice at The NPD Group. “But hope springs eternal with the New Year and there are signs in place that the global foodservice industry will continue to recover, albeit slowly.”