WASHINGTON (TNND) — The number of lunches bought from restaurants and other establishments decreased 3% from 2023 to 2024, according to a report published Friday.
The Wall Street Journal, citing data from market researcher Circana, said that 19.5 billion lunches were bought last year, a smaller amount than in 2020, when working from home became commonplace.
Purchases of food from grocery and other stores that consumers intended to bring to work or eat at home, however, increased 1%, according to the newspaper.
Black Box Intelligence, another market-research firm, also reportedly found that foot traffic to “fast-casual restaurants” at lunchtime decreased by an average of 7.9% in the first quarter year over year. Traffic to fast-food chain restaurants, The Wall Street Journal said, declined by an average of 4.2%.
Last May, LendingTree, a loan marketplace, published the results of a survey which found that 75% of Americans said eating at home was cheaper than buying fast food. Fifty-six percent of respondents said their “go-to” for an easy and inexpensive meal was making food at home, according to the results.
Sixty-two percent of respondents also noted they were eating fast food less because of rising prices. That month, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, which measures inflation, remained the same as in April of 2024, when it had increased .3%. The latest index increased .2% after rising .5% in January.
Some economic experts have speculated that tariffs the U.S. has imposed on imports will increase prices for Americans. President Donald Trump announced multiple duties on Wednesday, which said would actually make Americans richer.
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