Whether overcoming residuals from the economic recession or more immediate factors, the foodservice channel has faced its share of challenges in recent years. “In the three years following the worst days of the global financial crisis, consumer foodservice demand remained split between higher-income markets, where top-line growth was either anemic or negative, and emerging markets, which continue to see double-digit annual growth in many categories,” says Dana LaMendola, beverage analyst for Euromonitor International, Chicago.
Joe Pawlak, senior vice president of Technomic Inc., Chicago, notes that the channel also has dealt with more recent factors, such as a colder than average winter.