The first quarter of 2023 has come to a close and sales continue to look positive for the restaurant industry.
By segment, Full Service stayed on top last month, ending with 5% sales growth and Fast Casual at 2% above March 2022's numbers. Overall sales ended up at 3% up from last year.
It was a good month for Branzino prices as they topped the Droppers list, while Japanese cucumbers were on top of the Movers list. We're happy to see English cucumber prices on the Dropper list this month, coming down from their 41% price increase in January when they were number one on the Movers list (along with two other cucumber varietals). Up or down, cucumber prices are clearly making moves and proving to be a volatile veggie this year so far.
Food, beer, wine and liquor costs as a percentage of sales all increased for MarginEdge customers in March, with food costs averaging 29% of sales.
Regionally, the West saw the biggest jump in sales compared to the end of February (ending at 4% compared to last March), no doubt thanks to better weather in March. As the rest of the country warms up we're looking forward to seeing what April showers numbers bring! See you in May!