Foodservice

The foodservice (US English) or catering (British English) sector is comprised of the establishments, organisations, and corporations that are responsible for the preparation of meals outside the home. It encompasses a wide variety of establishments, such as cafeterias found in schools and hospitals, as well as catering companies and restaurants.

Foodservice operators get their supplies from foodservice wholesalers, which include both meals and small goods (i.e., kitchen utensils). Some enterprises produce goods that are sold to consumers as well as to food service establishments. The consumer version is often packaged in individual-sized containers with intricate label designs in order to be sold in retail stores. The foodservice version is often sold in a significantly bigger industrial size and lacks the colourful label graphics that are featured on the consumer version of the product.

A total of $1.24 trillion worth of food was provided by the food system in the United States in 2010, including food service and food retailing. Of this total, $594 billion was provided by food service facilities, which are defined by the USDA as any place that prepares food for immediate consumption on site. This definition includes locations that are not primarily engaged in dispensing meals, such as recreational facilities and retail stores. In 2010, full-service restaurants accounted for only a hair more revenue than fast food establishments, making up 77% of the total revenue generated by the food service industry. The variations in market shares that occur between fast food restaurants and full-service restaurants as a result of changes in market demand result in changes to the food and service options that are available at both kinds of restaurants.

According to the National Restaurant Association, a trend that is growing among US consumers for the foodservice industry is global cuisine. Sixty-six percent of US consumers ate more widely in 2015 than they did in 2010, eighty percent of consumers ate 'ethnic' cuisines at least once a month, and twenty-nine percent tried a new 'ethnic' cuisine within the last year.

The size of the foodservice distributor market in the United States was estimated to be $231 billion in 2015. The national broadline market is controlled by US Foods and Sysco, which together have a 60–70% share of the market but were prevented by the FTC from merging due to their dominant position in the industry.