AlixPartners at Prosper Forum 2024

Serving up strategies for a disrupted restaurant industry

As consumers increasingly worry about their financial health, their eating habits have shifted away from the frequency they previously dined out. They still want to visit restaurants to enjoy the experience, but many have indicated their first response to financial stress is to reduce how often they eat out or order takeaway, with some moving away from quick-service due to perceived value proposition worsening, we find in our 2024 Restaurant Consumer Pulse Survey. In 2024, it is all about the experience: visits need to count, which means restaurants need to evolve—6 in 10 operators say they feel an immediate need to evolve their business model. Additionally, 7 in 10 report a high level of disruption over the past 1-2 years, leading to even more evolution.

As building and sustaining a strong workforce remains crucial for restaurants, our 2024 Workers’ Survey finds that training and optimized or flexible scheduling are the management practices with greatest impact on efficiency. As smart staffing remains the secret sauce for standout restaurants, AI and automation—viewed as a threat by 14% of respondents to our 2023 Prosper Forum Operator Survey—are now viewed as a top opportunity by 59% of respondents from our 2024 Prosper Forum Operator Survey.

AlixPartners explored all of these findings and more from our consumer, workforce, and operator surveys at Prosper 2024.

Our session:

August 27, 2024 11:00 AM -11:30 AM

Resilience in Consumers and Restaurant Operators are Turning Challenges into Opportunities featuring AlixPartners' TJ Wommack and Derrick Yarbrough, and Chris Tomasso, President & CEO of First Watch Restaurants, Inc.

Read our insights