Consumers Rerouting Away-From-Home Spending

Consumers are reshaping their away-from-home eating habits in response to rising prices, steering traffic toward quick-service restaurants and supermarket prepared foods while pulling back from fine dining and eatertainment, according to Datassential’s Vibe-cession & Value report.

Among consumers who visit each segment, supermarket prepared foods posted the strongest net visitation gain over the past six months, with 36% of consumers reporting they visit more often versus just 19% who have cut back — a net positive balance of +17 percentage points. Quick-service restaurants saw a 13-point net bump, with 35% of consumers visiting more often, followed by convenience stores at +6 points. 

Meanwhile, fine dining and eatertainment each posted net balances of -7 points, with fine dining seeing the highest share of consumers who stopped visiting altogether at 16%. That comes as Datassential’s recent Value Equation: Trade Offs noted that 42% of fine dining visitors said they wish the segment offered better value. 

The shift reflects a competitive dynamic that has been building for some time. Last year’s Blurring Segments report found supermarket prepared foods and QSRs were already essentially tied on value perception among consumers, with 53% vs. 52% rating each “excellent/good” for value. Additionally, the 2026 Industry Forecast projected that retail foodservice would grow faster than QSR in real terms this year.

The same pressure is showing up in ordering behavior as well. Consumers relying on combo meals and bundled deals more often than a year ago

outnumber those relying on them less by a factor of 2.1x — 23% versus 11%, according to the Vibe-cession report. 

That acceleration builds on an already-established pattern: Datassential’s Value Equation report found that 62% of consumers had ordered a combo or value bundle in the prior month, with Gen Z and Millennials the most frequent users.

At the same time, the Vibe-cession report found volume plays a role in consumers’ value definitions. Given two options at the same price, 59% of consumers said a large pizza — described as feeding two to three people with leftovers likely — represented better value than a single burger-fries-drink combo meal. Just 24% chose the combo, a gap of 2.5x.