Datassential Digest | September 2025

Welcome to this month's Datassential Digest! Your one-stop shop for must-know food & beverage insights and intelligence, straight from the experts at Datassential. From emerging consumer and operator trends to sales intelligence and innovation highlights, stay ahead of what's next in the industry with our monthly LinkedIn newsletter.

✨ FEATURED ✨ Don't miss these items

• Be a part of Datassential's first Go-To-Market Webinar Series starting on September 17 and learn how AI, quality data, and smart CRM workflows can power your 2025 food and beverage strategy.
• See us next week at SommCon September 7-9, 2025 in San Diego, CA
• Download the Independent Restaurant Landscape in U.S. and Canada 2025 to get the latest industry snapshot, including the number of active, open, and closed restaurants visualized across major metrics.

DATA SPOTLIGHT: Bite-sized stats and insights to ingest

• The top growing cuisine types for new spicy items are pizza, coffee & bakery, burger, American, and BBQ. Source: Datassential One
• U.S. restaurant closures this spring were down 80% from 2018. Source: Restaurant Closures Are At 7-Year Low in 2025
• Mediterranean limited-service restaurants make up over twice the market share in the U.S. compared with Canada. Source: Independent Restaurant Landscape in U.S. and Canada 2025 Infographic
• Matcha grew by 75% on beverage menus and is expected to grow by 40% in desserts. Source: Datassential One

NEW RESOURCES: Fresh information you can read, download, watch

• Spicy Food Trends 2025: Why America Can’t Get Enough Heat: Explore the latest spicy food trends, fast-growing cuisines, and consumer demand shaping U.S. menus.
• Restaurant Closures Are At 7-Year Low in 2025: U.S. restaurant closures dropped to 886 in April 2025—the lowest in 7 years. See the full breakdown by segment, cuisine, and region.
• Mapping European Dairy Consumption: Data-Driven Perspectives: Discover exclusive findings from Datassential's Dairy Products in Europe Keynote Report.
• Watch Datassential experts dig into the trends to have on the radar heading into the fall season and explore everything from cozy, comforting favorites to bold, new innovations.
• Join us September 11 for 2026 Foodservice Forecast and get industry projections on the year ahead.

F&B INDUSTRY EVENTS: Where to meet the Datassential team in September

• QSR Evolution/ NextGen Summit September 2-4, 2025
• SommCon September 7-9, 2025
• IBIE (International Baking Industry Expo) September 13-17, 2025
• Datassential Elevate Gather & Graze September 16-17, 2025
• CStoreDecisions Webinar: Catering to Gen Z and Gen Alpha September 17, 2025
• IMI B4 Summit September 27-October 1, 2025

Want to meet with the team? Reach out to hello@datassential.com

DATASSENTIAL IN THE NEWS: Where our data is the star!

• CNBC: Restaurants are adding dozens of new spicy menu items in a bid for younger diners U.S. restaurant closings fell below 1,000 this spring, marking at least a 7-year low according to preliminary restaurant industry trends data from Datassential’s Sales Intelligence platform.
• The Atlantic: Why Is Everything Spicy Now? The spicy food revolution is reshaping American dining, and the latest data reveals just how dramatically our taste for heat has evolved. From explosive growth in spicy food trends to unprecedented menu adoption, the numbers paint a picture of a nation falling in love with fiery flavors.
• Bloomberg: New York City Is in the Midst of a Maximalist Chicken Moment Whole chicken’s appearance on menus nationwide have increased 57% over the past four years, according to global food and beverage intelligence company Datassential.
• See More Stories Featuring Datassential

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