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Chowing down on the cheap
Consumer spending growth at restaurants continues to outpace groceries, but prioritizing value has emerged across both categories.
July 2025
Key takeaways
- Over the past several months, spending growth at restaurants has surpassed that at supermarkets. Yet, in contrast to the spending data, when consumers were asked what they have recently done to reduce expenses, there's another surprise: they said they cut spending on restaurants. According to Bank of America aggregated credit and debit card data, households not only increased spending at full service restaurants, but also how often they dined out in June.
- Interestingly, lower-income households' spending growth per transaction was higher than other income cohorts at both quick-service restaurants and full service dining in June. But their transaction growth was significantly lower, suggesting the first pull back on spending could come in the form of the number of trips, and not necessarily money spent.
- Lower-income households are also chasing value at the grocery store. Regional cost-of-living differences may be influencing shopping decisions, with more cities in the South favoring discount grocers. If spending on groceries outpaces spending on restaurants, it's likely there could be a continued — and possibly stronger — shift to value and the emergence of an even more selective consumer.
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