Fall 2024 State of Business Dining Report

Unlock exclusive insights into the $245 billion business dining market with our State of Business Dining Report. Powered by Dinova’s proprietary data and Technomic’s expertise, this report reveals key trends and growth opportunities for restaurants looking to capitalize on the booming business dining sector.

What you’ll discover:

• Benchmarks & Menu Trends: Essential data to help your restaurant thrive.
• Consumer vs. Business Dining: Insights into the latest trends and a 2025 outlook.
• Growth Avenues: How positive business dining trends can open new opportunities.
• Business Traveler Insights: Real testimonials and personas that highlight dining needs.
• Market Data: Patterns in business dining, seasonality, and annual spending growth.

The Divide: Business vs Consumer Dining

Our report illustrates this “tale of two segments,” shedding light on the distinct challenges and opportunities for restaurants.

• Business dining is rising, fueled by corporate spending and the return of large events.
• Meanwhile, consumer dining is down, with 68% opting for grocery food due to rising costs, and 41% planning to cut restaurant visits.
• Businesses, however, are expected to spend $245 billion globally on food and beverages in 2024, with transactions over $250 accounting for more than a third of business dining.

Understanding Travel Dining Needs

Business dining covers a range of experiences, from client meetings to quick meals on the go. We interviewed participants in our Business Dining Program to share insights on common scenarios. The State of Business Dining Report answers questions like:

• Where do business travelers work, and how do they leverage food to build relationships?
• What influences their choice of restaurants?
• How much do they spend, and what does this reveal about their dining habits?

Methodology

In order to offer statistically significant sales insights for the State of Business Dining, we analyzed the following data:  

• Companies that remained active in the Dinova Business Dining Program from 2019-2024.
• Sales data from the most current list of top 1,500 US restaurant brands.

About the Authors: Dinova & Technomic

Dinova Inc. operates a business dining program that includes a network of 24,000+ restaurants and more than 570 corporations, government agencies, and small to medium sized businesses in the US and Canada.

Technomic Inc., a Winsight company, was founded as a management consulting firm in 1966. Since then, their services have grown to encompass cloud-based B2B research tools, consumer and menu trend tracking and other leading strategic research and analytic capabilities.