The recession in the food service industry appears to be over as more people return to eating in restaurants and consumers want hamburger and cheaper cuts of steak on the menu, an industry expert said Thursday.
Keith Blanks, foodservice vice president for international food marketing company Cargill, told the Kansas Livestock Association convention that he anticipates modest growth to continue with food costs expected to rise.
Blanks said the industry is starting to see that turn around this year, after 2008 and 2009 were extremely depressing for restaurants. He said about 20 percent of consumers surveyed in 2008 said they would eat out less, a number that reached 35 percent by 2009.
"Consumers are returning to old habits," Blanks said. "They don't like to cook that much."
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