CHICAGO, August 21, 2025 - Amid all the anxiety about tariffs and consumer belt-tightening, other currents are shaping the food-away-from-home business with far less attention. Here’s a sampling of those forces packing a more subtle influence.
Is the bloom off the rose for meat-replacement products?
Beyond Meat, a pioneer in marketing plant-based replacements for animal proteins, is redefining its mission amid what the company characterizes as an “ongoing softness in the plant-based meat category.” The company is rebranding itself as Beyond, with the aim of suggesting its products should be a first choice because of the functional benefits they deliver, and not merely a replacement for foods viewed as being less healthy.
Beyond is currently reducing its North American workforce by 6%, or 44 positions, and shrinking its U.S. headquarters to offset ongoing losses. It attributed its net loss of $29.2 million for the second quarter, which it attributed in part to a 26.7% drop in retail sales. Sales to U.S. foodservice operations rose 6.8%.
Another cost of the immigration crackdown?
More indications are emerging of a decline in food and beverage purchases by Hispanics, with the federal government’s toughened stance on undocumented immigrants increasingly cited as a cause.
Jack in the Box, Wingstop, The Coca-Cola Co., and Modelo parent Constellation Brands have all observed in reporting financial results for their most recent quarters that U.S. sales to Hispanic customers had eroded.
Their acknowledgements follow a finding by researcher Black Box Intelligence that restaurant traffic in markets with large Hispanic populations had dipped 1.1% below the year-to-date national figure as of mid-May.
The anecdotal explanation often given has been fear of being swept up in raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents regardless of a Latino’s legal status ““There’s a fear out there, so these consumers are changing their behavior,” Constellation President Jim Sabia said at a financial conference earlier this summer. “In the on-premise trade, they’re cutting back on social events. They’re cutting back on restaurants.”
Other observers say traffic is also being eroded by fears of unemployment.
Are in-store purchases the rising trend?
If there’s a FAFH brand synonymous with delivery, it has to be Domino’s. Yet takeout was the big sales driver for the chain during the second quarter. Overall, domestic same-store sales for the brand rose 3.4%. Yet takeout sales rose on a same-store basis by 5.8%, with the increase coming from traffic rather than pricing. Management revealed that the pizza concept set a new all-time high for to-go orders.
Almost simultaneously, Starbucks disclosed plans to shut its pickup-only stores, a variation once identified as a source of significant growth for the brand. The units enable customers to order ahead and then dash in to pick up their beverages.
The 80 pickup outlets will be shuddered in 2026 as part of the brand’s plan to again reposition itself as primarily a “third place” where consumers can relax outside of work or their homes.
As Managing Editor for IFMA The Food Away from Home Association, Romeo is responsible for generating the group's news and feature content. He brings more than 40 years of experience in covering restaurants to the position.