National Restaurant Association to Release Monthly Statistical Barometer of the Restaurant Industry

4/29/2003

From: Katharine Kim, 202-331-5939 or Tom Foulkes, 202-331-5902, media@dineout.org; both of the National Restaurant Association

WASHINGTON, April 29 -- Underscoring its efforts to provide timely analysis of the restaurant industry, the National Restaurant Association announced today that it has developed the Restaurant Performance Index - a monthly composite index that tracks the health of the U.S. restaurant industry. The index will be released on the last business day of each month, and analyzes various trends that impact the $426 billion restaurant industry. The inaugural Restaurant Performance Index will be released on the morning of Wednesday, April 30.

The Restaurant Performance Index is based on the responses to the National Restaurant Association's Restaurant Industry Tracking Survey, which is fielded monthly among restaurant operators nationwide on a variety of industry indicators including sales, traffic, labor and capital expenditures.

The Index consists of two components - the Current Situation Index and the Expectations Index. The Current Situation Index measures current trends in the four aforementioned industry indicators, while the Expectations index measures restaurant operators' six-month outlook for the four industry indicators.

"The National Restaurant Association's Restaurant Performance Index will provide detailed analysis on the state of the restaurant industry and vital information that may be useful for our members and industry analysts to make more informed decisions," said Steven C. Anderson, president and chief executive officer of the Association. "The Association's talented economists are committed to providing objective, high-quality research that will meet the needs of all industry professionals."

While the Restaurant Performance Index will be consistently released on the last business day of each month, more detailed analysis of the Index, as well as several other industry indicators can be found on Restaurant TrendMapper (http://www.restaurant.org/trendmapper), the Association's subscription-based web site that provides real-time analysis of restaurant industry trends.

------ The National Restaurant Association, founded in 1919, is the leading business association for the restaurant industry, which is comprised of 870,000 restaurant and foodservice outlets and a work force of 11.7 million employees - making it the cornerstone of the economy, career opportunities and community involvement. Along with the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, the Association works to represent, educate and promote the rapidly growing industry. For more information, visit our Web site at http://www.restaurant.org.