Our Methods

The analysis of the foodservice markets is complicated since this involves a large amount of foodservice operators, i.e. in France with over 250 000 restaurants.

So as to assess accurately the market evolutions, we cross three complementary approaches:

• An approach focusing on outlet managers, with four specific target groups:
  
  • self-managed social foodservice outlets
  • outlets managed by contracts caterers
  • independent commercial restaurants
  • outlets managed by chains and specialist operators
• An approach focusing on Foodservice distributors, covering three main distributor categories:
• specialist Foodservice wholesalers
•  cash & carry operators
•  industrial-scale producers that deliver their products directly to Foodservice outlets
• An approach focusing on consumers - essential for qualitative research:
  
  • focus groups
  • individual interviews with a representative sample of consumers

The complementary nature of these approaches provides a clear vision of market mechanisms, the forces that drive change, potential future scenarios and emerging trends.