Special Report: 21 Diners, 21 Days

Consumers turn diarists to tell R&I what they ate at home and away from home for three weeks.

By Staff -- Restaurants & Institutions, 4/1/2008

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Averages can be confusing as well as enlightening. The National Restaurant Association estimates that the typical U.S. adult averaged 5.8 restaurant occasions per week in 2007, and the U.S. Census Bureau says that the average U.S. household contained 2.59 persons in 2006. Both figures are valuable for understanding consumers and their dining patterns. But such numbers also are unavoidably impersonal.

In an attempt to gain a more personal, if less statistically projectable, look at how foodservice fits into real peoples’ lives, R&I asked 21 adults to keep a diary for 21 days (Jan. 13 to Feb. 2, 2008) and record what they ate at home and away from home. This reprised a similar study R&I conducted with 21 Chicagoans in 2007 (reported in the April 1, 2007, issue) with one significant difference: Last year’s research covered 21 adults in Chicago; this year’s involved respondents in five cities—Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles.

R&I ensured in its selection of participants that both genders and multiple ages, ethnicities and household incomes would be represented in the study. Participants received a small monetary incentive for their time.

Following are some of the insights gleaned from the 21 Diners’ diaries:

• Slightly less than one-third (30.5%) of all meals eaten by respondents over the 21 days were purchased and consumed away from home.
• Lunch was the meal most often purchased; 43% of all lunches eaten were not prepared at home. Twenty-eight percent of breakfasts eaten and 21% of dinners eaten were purchased (for snack data, see "21 Snackers").
• The assertion that Americans are working longer and have less time for meals and other personal activities is borne out by our 21 Diners’ behavior. Compared with 2007’s participants, this year’s respondents ate more breakfasts at their desk or in their office.
• Our 21 Diners skipped a surprising number of meals. This was especially true at breakfast: participants skipped this meal altogether 28% of the time. Of 441 possible lunches (21 people multiplied by 21 days), 24% were skipped. Additionally, diners missed 8% of dinner occasions.

Missed meals, especially in the morning, present enormous opportunities for foodservice operators. At each meal, a significant percentage of consumers is deciding not where to dine but whether to dine at all. Snacks may serve as substitutes for some of those traditional meals—and diners’ number of snack occasions was higher in 2008 than in 2007—but missed meals represent customer traffic that effective marketing might be able to attract.

Putting the Fast in Breakfast

Excluding skipped meals, most (64%) of breakfasts that were eaten were consumed at home, but they were not leisurely meals. On average, 8 minutes were spent preparing the meal and most (68%) of the 21 Diners say they spent 10 minutes or less eating their breakfast.

Cereal, eggs and toast were the most popular breakfast foods. Coffee and milk were the most popular accompaniments.

Among breakfasts consumed away from home, 39% were eaten at work. Morning meals were purchased at quick-service restaurants 21% of the time, at a coffee shop 19% of the time and at an independent/nonchain restaurant 11% of the time.

Away-from-home breakfasts were as speedy as at-home meals: 66% were consumed in 10 minutes or less. Excluding occasions when someone else paid for the meal, the diners spent $3 or less on nearly half (49%) of their purchased breakfasts. Perhaps because of the low average tab, our 21 Diners rated their breakfasts away from home a good value 97% of the time.

When our 21 Diners purchased breakfast, how did they choose a destination? Most often, "convenience/speed" was the paramount determinant. A restaurant’s proximity to consumers’ place of work is an important form of convenience, and a foodservice operation’s location was cited as the motivation for 30% of breakfast-site selections.

Don’t minimize the importance of the 8 minutes required to prepare breakfast at home. The primary motivation for eating away from home—cited on 33% of dining-out occasions—was "didn’t want to/didn’t have time to cook." "Saving time" was the second-most-cited motivation.

That doesn’t mean that consumers don’t care what they eat. For 22% of their breakfasts eaten away from home, our 21 Diners named "wanted a specific type of food" their primary motivation for dining out. Away from home, the 21 Diners ate foods different from what they typically eat at home: Eggs were popular (as they are at home), but other common away-from-home foods—such as hash browns, muffins and orange juice—were not frequent at-home choices.

Price considerations were not strong motivators: A coupon determined a breakfast choice on only 11% of occasions.

Lunch: Sandwiches at the Desk

Lunch was the meal most often eaten away from home (56% of occasions, excluding skipped lunches). As with breakfasts, the most common motivation for eating out was lack of time or desire to prepare a meal (21%), followed by the desire to save time (18%).

The food our 21 Diners ate for lunch was important, serving as motivation for 26% of occasions. A sandwich was lunch for 40% of those who ate at home or who made lunch at home at took it with them, and sandwiches were the most popular choice for away-from-home lunch eaters (27%).

Salads are what consumers don’t make at home but frequently order out. A salad was the lunch choice for 21% of away-from-home occasions but only 8% of at-home occasions. Burgers or hot dogs were slightly more popular (12%) as restaurant choices than as at-home (8%) lunches. Soup was eaten more often at home (13%) than away (7%).

A QSR was the destination for 27% of lunches. Next-most-popular venues were an office cafeteria or a nonchain restaurant (15% of occasions for each). Casual-dining restaurants followed at 10%.

Our 21 Diners got away from their desks at lunchtime, although 23% of meals were eaten at their desks. And they spent more time eating (63% of lunches were 11 to 30 minutes in length) at midday. One in four (27%) ate lunch alone (likely the desk jockeys).

More than half (56%) of the purchased lunches (again excluding meals for which the respondent did not pay) cost between $5 and $10; 31% cost less than $5. Diners thought they had received a fair value 96% of the time.

Dinner is for Family and Friends

Dinner was a family dining occasion for most of our 21 Diners. Most often (71% of occasions) they ate dinner at home, frequently with a spouse/partner (34%) or with a partner and children (30%). Respondents dined alone on 22% of dinner occasions.

When the 21 Diners ate dinner at home, they averaged 32 minutes of preparation time, and most of them (61%) spent between 16 and 30 minutes eating dinner. One in four (26%) dinners lasted 15 minutes or less. None was more than 1 hour long.

Dinners away from home were most often (70%) enjoyed at a restaurant with family or friends. Eighteen percent of away-from-home dinners were business-related meals at restaurants, and 12% were dinners at friends’ homes. One in 10 dinners out was eaten alone; 32% were with a spouse/partner, and 19% were with a partner and children.

Avoiding preparation or cleanup time was not a top motivator for having dinner away from home. "Wanted to spend time with family or friends" was cited as the reason for 37% of dinners out. Not having time or desire to cook still is influential, however: It was the motivation for 21% of dinners away from home.

The decision to have dinner at a restaurant rather than at home most often was a spur-of-the-moment one, made after 2 p.m. on the day of the meal for 79% of dinners out. Only 13% of restaurant-dinner occasions were planned more than a day in advance.

Port Washington, N.Y.-based The NPD Group reported in 2006 that 11.1% of prepared-at-home dinners included a sandwich. For our 21 Diners, a sandwich was the entrée for 8% of dinners at home. Sandwiches were a more popular choice away from home, representing 14% of purchased dinners.

Hamburgers were the entrée for 4% of at-home dinners and 8% of restaurant dinners. At home, salad (16%) and soup (14%) were common meals, but these foods were less popular away from home (8% for salads, 3% for soup).

For 33% of dinners away from home, respondents said their restaurant selection was based on the fact that, in general, they like the food served at the restaurant. In contrast, respondents cited availability of specific food options at the restaurant as the reason for their venue selection on 26% of occasions. Convenience was the primary motivator only 23% of the time.

Our 21 Diners are heavy users of takeout and drive-thru windows during the day, but 61% of dinners away from home were eaten at a restaurant. Carryout accounted for 28% of dinner purchases, delivery for 1%.

Twenty percent of dinners away from home were eaten at a casual restaurant; 19% were eaten at what respondents described as an upscale restaurant. QSRs were the choice for only 18% of dinner purchases.

The check for 28% of respondents’ restaurant dinners (excluding occasions when someone else paid) was between $10 and $19.99 on 28% of occasions, between $20 and $29.99 on 23% of occasions and between $5 and $9.99 on 22% of occasions.

For only 10% of restaurant dinners did our 21 Diners rate the food they ordered as fair or poor. Similarly, service was rated as excellent or good on 90% of occasions.

Meet Alana W.

Alana W., a 40-year-old purchasing expediter who works and lives in a suburb of Houston, loves to try new foods. "I like a lot of variety," she says. "My husband says I eat anything." On weekends, this means trying new places, even if they’re not nearby.

"If I have a taste for something and it’s 30 minutes to an hour away, I will set aside the time for it if it is something I really want," she says. Just as important as the food, however, is ambience, and she says she will choose a restaurant with great ambience and average food over one with great food but minimal ambience.

At work, however, it’s a different story. An early-morning start means that she sometimes skips breakfast. Lately, though, she has been trying to make time for breakfast, and she recently picked up two tacos from Taco Bell before work.

For lunch, which she considers her main meal, she brings food from home when she wants to save money and buys a meal from the company’s cafeteria when she likes the menu and wants to treat herself. She also brings snacks to work, preferring to eat smaller portions throughout the day rather than one large meal.

Of late, she also has been drawn to upscale grocery-store ready-made sections. "They offer variety, and I don’t always want the same thing," she says.

Meet Monica M.

Monica M. is a 28-year-old single mom with three young sons. She lives and works in a Boston suburb, which helps her maximize her time at home. She doesn’t dine out often, but when she does, she frequents places that offer a quick dining experience and are close to where she works or lives.

"It’s all about convenience, convenience, convenience," she says.

For dinner, that often means microwavable pasta dishes. Breakfast consists of a cup of coffee that she makes at home. At the office, where she works as an associate in an accounts-payable department, she and her colleagues regularly order food from a nearby restaurant to eat on a 30-minute lunch break. She often spends between $7 and $10 a day for her weekday lunches. Snacks are infrequent, but when she does snack, her choice often is store-bought yogurt.

Despite her routine, she was surprised at how repetitive her diet had become. "I eat the same thing over and over again," she says. "I thought I ate more-diverse foods. I’m at work most of the time, and the food that I eat is usually from five to 10 minutes away."

Meet Rachel G.

After Rachel G. wrote down what she ate for 21 days, she was struck with the pattern she found.

"I am totally a creature of habit," says the 22-year-old drafter, who works and lives in a city outside of Boston. "I have the same routine."

Rachel often stops at a Dunkin’ Donuts for breakfast. For lunch, she buys a sandwich from a mom-and-pop cafe near her office—a spot recommended to her by co-workers. "I go to places located near where I work that I know about," she says.

She says she enjoys trying new things when she eats out, though she has been disappointed with some selections. "I had a chicken dish with a lemon rosemary sauce; I didn’t really care for it," she recalls. "It wasn’t good at all." And for that reason, she doubts she’ll abandon her routine any time soon.

Meet Lawrence C.

Lawrence C., a 34-year-old IT analyst in Orange County, Calif., was pleasantly surprised that his 21-day food diary revealed fewer dining-out occasions than he had expected to see. "We recently went on a budget," explains Lawrence, a married father of three.

Lawrence and his wife bought a house in 2007, and that purchase, combined with the budgetary demands of raising a 4-year-old and twin 1-year-olds, prompted the family to start watching their day-to-day spending more closely. One result? Fewer away-from-home family dinners. "I think we’re dining out in less-expensive restaurants, [too]," he adds.

This isn’t to say that an influx of cash or dining-out deals would necessarily lead to more restaurant visits—given the potential hassle of dining out with three young children, Lawrence says, sometimes eating at home is a matter of saving time and effort.

Restaurants that feature takeout or curbside-takeaway options offer the family an appealing compromise—the convenience of a restaurant meal and the relaxed atmosphere of home. When the family does head out to dine, "We go to places that have a play area and stuff like that," Lawrence says.

One thing hasn’t changed since the family established a budget: Lawrence says that he still dines out regularly at lunch; he rarely brings lunch from home.

Meet Arnold T.

With the senior market starting to swell in both numbers and sales potential, foodservice operators would do well to take note of the dining-out habits of consumers such as Arnold T., a 70-year-old retiree who lives in the Chicago suburb of Park Ridge, Ill.

Mainly when his wife doesn’t feel like cooking but sometimes "just for the pleasure of going to a restaurant," Arnold will head out for a sit-down meal. This happens about once a week, and he buys fast food, which he brings home to eat, with the same frequency.

That many of the eight or 10 chain and independent restaurants the couple frequent are family-dining spots isn’t surprising; more unexpected is the couple’s enthusiasm for slightly more-exotic options and their willingness to drive well beyond the neighborhood to get there.

Their current favorite restaurant, Arnold says, is Bahama Breeze, a Caribbean-themed casual-dining chain from Orlando-based Darden Restaurants with a location about 20 miles from their home.

"The food is always a little different, and we go for the atmosphere because it makes us feel like we’re in Florida," he says.

Another regular destination is Sweet Tomatoes, a San Diego-based soup, salad and pasta buffet chain that Arnold’s wife favors because she likes to eat light. The two also visit Richmond Heights, Mo.-based Panera Bread Co., which Arnold views as offering more specialty items than quick-service spots do.

Another "really good" option closer to the couple’s neighborhood, he adds, is Elephant Bar Restaurant (an upscale-casual chain based in La Mirada, Calif.). The couple appreciates the Pacific Rim-style menu, and they especially like the 20%-off cards diners ages 60 and older can use every time they visit.

Although Arnold says he doesn’t mind paying more at Panera than he would at a QSR, price pays a big role in most of his dining-out decisions. It’s the biggest reason why he and his wife prefer to eat out at lunch rather than at dinner, and it’s why, he says, their visits to fine-dining restaurants are restricted to one or two a year, for special occasions.

Budget concerns also are the reason Arnold says his dining-out frequency is unlikely to increase, regardless of how restaurants try to entice him.

"Even if you hold down the price, it still gets expensive," he says. "It’s still more costly than eating at home."

Meet Inez C.

Inez C. identifies herself as a creature of habit. "I’m more of a person that eats the same thing all the time," says the 41-year-old administrative assistant from Atlanta.

Inez has oatmeal at home almost every morning, but on Sundays, she enjoys "splurging" at a favorite casual-dining restaurant on her way home from church. Her favorite items? Turkey wings and smothered chicken, specialties of the Southern-cuisine-centric restaurant.

With Sunday brunch being her primary regular dining-out occasion, Inez says that a more-convenient dining experience and better pricing would be the top things restaurants could offer to persuade her to dine out more often. Convenience plays into her decision to opt sometimes for a ready-to-eat supermarket meal instead of a restaurant meal.

"Down here, when I’m out on Sundays, there are lines after church [at nearby restaurants]," she says. "With the grocery stores, you can go in and kind of pick up [a meal]." Inez says she’s impressed with the variety of ready-to-eat meals that her local supermarket offers—not only rotisserie chicken but also ribs and several varieties of premade rice, as well as made-to-order sandwiches.