The National Restaurant Association has released its 2022 State of the Restaurant Industry report, which measures the industry’s continued recovery and examines the status of current and emerging trends across key categories including technology and off-premises business, operations, workforce, food and menus, and more.

Key findings about the industry’s continued recovery include:

• The foodservice industry is forecast to reach $898 billion in sales in 2022.
• The foodservice industry workforce is projected to grow by 400,000 jobs, for total industry employment of 14.9 million by the end of 2022.
• More than half of restaurant operators said it would be a year or more before businesses conditions return to normal.
• Food, labor, and occupancy costs are expected to remain elevated, and continue to impact restaurant profit margins in 2022.
• Ninety-six percent of operators experienced supply delays or shortages of key food or beverage items in 2021 – and these challenges will likely continue in 2022.
• Fifty-one percent of adults say they aren’t eating at restaurants as often as they would like, which is an increase of six percentage points from before the pandemic.

“The restaurant and foodservice industry has adapted and is carrying on with absolute resilience, so we’re optimistic about the path toward recovery in the coming year,” says Marvin Irby, interim president and chief executive officer of the National Restaurant Association. “We still have work to do to ensure that those operators struggling the most can survive. The Association will continue to champion the necessary government support needed at the federal and local levels to help keep these businesses — cornerstones of our communities — on a path to better days.”

Additional findings on the rise of off-premises dining, streamlined menus, plant-based options, sustainable packaging and more can be found in the National Restaurant Association’s 2022 State of the Restaurant Industry Report.