Restaurant Customers Ordering More Tap Water Instead of Beverages

Do you order water when you dine out our do you splurge for a beverage or a martini from the bar?

If you opt for H20, you are like most diners today.

Tap water is one of the fastest growing beverages ordered at U.S. restaurants whereas revenue-generating beverages have been declining over the past five years, according to foodservice market research conducted by The NPD Group, a global research and marketing company.

An NPD news release further states that over the past five years, while restaurant traffic is down one percent, there has been a six percent drop in total beverage servings excluding tap water at restaurants, a decline of 2.7 billion servings, according to a recently releaseed NPD report, Beverages at Foodservice: Satisfying Our Thirst for Beverages.

Tap water servings currently represent 8 percent of the 50 billion beverage servings ordered at restaurants, according to NPD’s CREST service, which continually tracks consumer use of restaurants, according to a recent press release issued by the company.

Locally, we asked restaurants what diners were ordering more glasses of water, beverages or something else.

Cecilia Birney, manager, , said, "People are still ordering carbonated beverages at lunch and dinner but more people order water during lunch than dinner. At night we people usually order water with an acoholic beverage.”

Junior Hernandez, manager, , says, "This is a huge growing trend (customers ordering water) at our restaurant most people are ordering water now and not soda.  It’s pretty much all we get.”

Tap water servings have increased by 2.8 billion servings since 2006. The report, which includes a custom survey of 5,500 adults, 18 years and older, finds that the decline in beverage orders at restaurants is driven by the largest categories — carbonated soft drinks and brewed coffee— which represent 49 percent of all beverage servings. Although iced tea, a long-established beverage, is growing, other growth categories tend to be newer drinks like smoothies, iced/frozen/slushy drinks, and specialty coffee drinks, the release says.   

Bonnie Riggs, NPD restaurant industry analyst and author of the report adds, “Although the economy and high unemployment are factors in tap water’s upswing and beverage servings declines, some beverages, like carbonated soft drinks were declining prior to the recession."

She says in the news release that a key learning from this report is that much of the declines in beverage servings are tied to the price/value relationship the consumer perceives.

The report also revealed that free refills were among a variety of reasons consumers gave for ordering tap water instead of other beverages. One of the many reasons consumers gave for not ordering carbonated soft drinks and other non-growth beverages was the cost of these drinks, according to the news release.

“Some declining beverages will fare better as the economy recovers, but beverage providers will need to address consumers’ concerns and poor value perceptions to stem further losses,” says Riggs in the release. “Not all beverages are on the decline. New flavors, addressing taste interests, preparing fresh/freshly made, and creating new versions of existing beverages are factors in the beverages that are growing.”

Do you order water or something else when eating out?