Small commercial food service industry trends: What insurance agents need to know

The U.S. restaurant and food service industry is closing out 2025 on solid footing, with steady demand, continued innovation and a renewed focus on balancing value with experience. Sales are expected to reach $1.5 trillion this year, backed by a workforce of nearly 16 million employees.¹ Many food services operators are looking ahead to 2026 with cautious optimism. However, that optimism is balanced with an awareness that persistent cost pressures, labor challenges and shifting consumer expectations will continue to shape the landscape.

For insurance agents, these ongoing trends offer an opportunity to help food service clients anticipate what’s next. By understanding the forces driving profitability, staffing, technology and compliance, agents can position themselves as trusted advisers, equipping restaurant owners to stay resilient, compliant and competitive in the years ahead.

Trends impacting food service industry operations

Economic and financial pressures

Costs remain the headwind. Operators continue to face elevated food, labor, utilities, occupancy, and card-processing expenses, all of which compress margins and complicate pricing decisions. Despite that, most operators expect sales to grow and are leaning into value that extends beyond price to drive traffic and loyalty. This includes a focus on clean, hospitable service and a better on-premises experience. What’s more, loyalty programs and targeted promotions are projected to play outsized roles in 2025.¹ 

Supply chains are more stable than in 2022-2023, but volatility hasn’t completely disappeared. Operators are diversifying suppliers, tightening inventory and using more dynamic pricing to navigate swings in protein and produce costs, moves that can ripple into business interruption and contingent business interruption considerations if a key vendor falters. 

Workforce and staffing

The labor picture is improving, but it’s not solved. Recruiting and retention remain among the top challenges; operators report progress on turnover alongside persistent difficulty filling roles. Notably, teens and young adults are re-entering the restaurant workforce in greater numbers, helping operators stabilize staffing during peaks.¹ Agents should watch state and local wage and tip-credit reforms that can materially change labor costs and staffing models over a policy period.

Retention strategies are shifting from short-term incentives to predictable schedules, career pathways and multilingual training. Additionally, many food services operators are making investments aimed at reducing injuries by improving compliance with workplace health and safety programs. 

Food safety and compliance

As menus diversify and allergen requests rise, cross-contact controls, training and labeling are under closer scrutiny. A lapse can trigger costly claims, regulatory action and reputational damage, particularly for multi-unit brands with centralized recipes and distributed execution. Agents should confirm clients’ recall, product contamination and crisis-management endorsements.

Evolving consumer trends in the food industry

As dining habits continue to shift, operators are adapting to a new set of expectations shaped by convenience, experience and conscious consumption. Here are some of the main consumer demands shaping restaurant strategies today: 

• Convenience remains sticky: Off-premises ordering is now a lifestyle habit for many diners. In 2024 consumer research, 70% of respondents reported ordering delivery, 70% takeout and 68% dining in, underscoring the need for seamless digital ordering, accurate hand-off and delivery partnerships that protect margins and data.² 
• Experience matters more than price for many guests: Operators aiming to recapture on-premises traffic are investing in hospitality, cleanliness and ambiance, not just discounting. Expect more tasting events, private dinners and beverage-pairing programs designed to differentiate the in-house visit. 
• Health and wellness continue to climb: Plant-forward items, functional beverages and global flavors are driving menu development as consumers look for novelty with perceived benefits. 
• Sustainability is no longer optional: Diners reward visible efforts like reduced packaging, local sourcing and waste-reduction practices. At the system level, food waste remains a material problem and reputational risk. In 2023, the U.S. generated 73.9 million tons of food surplus, with 85% of it going to waste. To address this issue, many operators are turning to better forecasting, portioning and composting programs.³
  

Technology challenges

Beyond costs and consumer shifts, restaurants face several new technology hurdles that demand constant attention and strategic planning. 

• Cybersecurity: Restaurants are prime targets for cybercrime because they process payments, capture guest data and increasingly run cloud-based POS and loyalty systems. The NCR Aloha ransomware incident, which disrupted back-office functions among its restaurant customers, illustrates systemic exposure risks across franchise networks and vendor ecosystems.⁴ Cyber liability, incident response planning and vendor-risk reviews should be standard conversation points. 
• Efficiency and automation: To counter wage and hiring pressures, operators are piloting AI-assisted forecasting, smart scheduling, kiosks and limited kitchen robotics. The goal is fewer errors and faster speed of service. These changes alter risk profiles and may require updates to property and business income limits if throughput or hours expand.  
• Technology integration: Modern POS platforms now connect ordering, payments, loyalty, inventory and marketing, producing data that can sharpen pricing and menu engineering. Consumers increasingly expect digital wallets and contactless payment, and operators are investing accordingly.  

At the same time, the more integrated the stack, the more concentrated the risk if a single vendor goes down or is breached. Align cyber, crime and business income coverages with actual system dependencies (e.g., contingent business income if a critical third-party platform fails).

How agents can help food service clients right now

Given the complexity of the current environment, agents can play a key role in helping restaurant owners stay resilient. Here’s where to focus your support: 

• Build coverage recommendations around modern risks: Consider foodborne illness/product contamination; cyber and privacy; business income/extra expense with realistic limits tied to current throughput and hours; employment practices liability; equipment breakdown; auto for delivery models; and umbrella/excess to account for higher verdict severity. 
• Promote risk-management services: Point clients to carrier and third-party tools that reduce loss frequency and severity: temperature monitoring and spoilage prevention, inventory analytics to cut waste, safety training in multiple languages and supply-chain reviews to identify single points of failure. These steps can directly impact premiums and retention. 
• Recommend cybersecurity enhancements: Encourage multifactor authentication on every system, strong passwords, regular patching, employee phishing training, secure Wi-Fi segmentation and vendor-access controls.  
• Support technology adoption with coverage alignment: When clients add kiosks, mobile pay or AI-based forecasting, review property, equipment breakdown, crime and cyber forms together. For delivery strategy, revisit auto exposures, especially where third-party agreements shift liability. 
• Be a resource: Independent agents are uniquely positioned to be strategic partners. By grounding your advice in today’s cost realities, workforce dynamics, digital expectations and compliance demands, and by pairing coverage with practical risk-management, you can help restaurants stay resilient, competitive and confident heading into 2026. Start by asking where your client’s revenue is most vulnerable (supply chain, systems, labor or safety) and align solutions to shore up those weak points before the next disruption hits.