�The Restaurant Revolution: Growth, Change and Strategy in the International Foodservice Industry� is the first ever study to quantify the global size and scope of the restaurant sector, and its contribution to the world economy.  �It is an essential baseline report which sets out to provide all stakeholders in the foodservice industry with insight into its magnitude, importance and the factors impacting its development,� said Michael Nowlis, IH&RA CEO. 

Authored by Michael Olsen, IH&RA director of research and professor of hospitality strategic management at Virginia Tech in the US, the White Paper aims to provide reliable statistical data for governments, industry associations, suppliers, local communities and academia.  It is expected to be used for a wide variety of business needs, including market analysis, evaluation of marketing effectiveness, industry investment, human resource development and policy analysis.  Statistics are broken down by global regions, income level groups and economic grouping. 

The study is the second in a series to be produced by the association �the first White Paper on the Global Hotel Industry was published in 1996.  It is divided into four sections covering statistics, trends, competitive methods and workforce issues.  The statistical analysis of the scale of the industry estimates that in 1997 there were over 8 million restaurants world-wide.  Among the eleven regions studied, the report found that Northeast Asia had the highest concentration of restaurants with 43% of the total, followed by Europe with 16%, South America with 15%, and North America with 12.5%. 

According to findings of the analysis, the European restaurant industry accounted for more than 20% of world-wide revenue, Asia-Pacific nearly 24%, with 53% generated by the Americas.  Employment in the North American restaurant industry represented 8% of total global restaurant employment.  �Despite the industry�s robust performance,� says the report, �it remains fragmented, made up predominantly of small and medium-sized enterprises which suggests a high degree of competition and business risk.� 

One of the White Paper�s aims is to help foodservice operators become more competitive by anticipating trends set to change the operating environment over the next 5-10 years.  The second section highlights the key strategic issues for the industry and their impact on its future.  The major challenges it identifies include increasing pressure for better economic performance, the impact of technology, a shrinking labour supply, threatened natural resources, greater pressure on the food chain, and a growing concern for health and well-being. 

The White Paper predicts that many of the challenges will result from the transition to an information age and its impact on the whole business/employee/customer relationship.  It cites both the rising importance of the consumer and the value of knowing his or her needs as two of the most critical issues facing the industry into the next millennium. The outcome will be an exchange process between customer and provider, facilitated by personal software agents or �infomediaries� instructed to match specific requests from the customer with the right provider. 

Successful restaurant businesses are those that will utilise new technologies and the increased availability of information to provide a customised guest experience, placing as much emphasis on the intangible part of the product � added-value, tailored services and safe surroundings - as on the food served.  Restaurateurs will be expected to respond to special menu requests, and, for the growing number of consumers concerned about the origin of their food, provide assurance of the quality of the food chain �from farm to fork�. 

According to the study, restaurant managers must be ready to �develop improved leadership capabilities� and learn much more about creating value through people than regarding them as objects to create that value.  �The idea that you don�t invest in training because your people may leave you when they have completed it, will go the way of the dinosaurs,� says the report. 
The third section reviews the competitive methods of multinational foodservice companies, identifying the strategies they have employed to meet the challenges of the past five years.  The study concludes that some of the traditional methods used � improving efficiency, new product development, marketing and pricing strategies � will continue to figure highly. 

However, investment in competitive methods directed at technology � including better use of technologies geared at knowing the lifetime value of the customer - and at human resources will become more important in the future. 

The final section of the study looks at the distribution of jobs and labour across a sample of countries to identify demographic and educational trends shaping the industry�s potential workforce.  The difficulty of obtaining and retaining a qualified workforce has vast implications for growth and human resources practices across the globe, says the report. 

The International Hotel & Restaurant Association (IH&RA) is a global network representing over 750,000 hospitality operators, associations and suppliers in more than 150 countries.  Its mission is to protect, promote and inform the hospitality industry, which it estimates to comprise over 300,000 hotels and 8 million restaurants world-wide, employ 60 million people and contribute US$950 billion to the global economy.