In its 2008 Industry Forecast, the National Restaurant Association (NRA) Wednesday pointed to the snack industry to post the highest sales increase in 2008 with an expected 3.2 percent real sales increase in the upcoming year.
The quick-service segment, which the organization figures separately from snacks, is expected to experience a 0.8 percent real sales increase while the full-service segment is predicted to see the smallest (0.7 percent) increase. In total, the restaurant industry is expected to experience a real sales increase of 0.9 percent, reaching $558 billion in sales, in 2008.
Of the nearly one million domestic restaurants, the quick-service segment (including snack and nonalcoholic-beverage concepts) will represent one-fourth of the units in the U.S.