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The International Foodservice Manufacturers Association (IFMA) has published its 2022 foodservice industry and segment growth projections. While the industry will not yet reach 2019 operator spend levels in 2022 (4% decline), IFMA projects 4.9% growth in 2022 compared to the current year.
The forecast utilizes calendar year 2019 as a benchmark and is based upon several key assumptions, including Covid-19 vaccine availability, domestic and international travel, and government regulations and mandates. The models were created in conjunction with Datassential, a leading foodservice research firm.
"While 2021 was a growth year compared to the difficult 2020 our industry faced, we are still not completely back to where operator spending was in 2019,” said Larry Oberkfell, IFMA President & CEO. “With continual changes in Covid-19 safety guidance, along with supply chain and labor challenges, our industry is still facing a number of headwinds."
Key highlights from the segment comparisons to 2019 include: