National restaurant sales stayed positive this May with a big mid-month boost from Mother's Day, and an additional bump during the last week over Memorial Day Weekend.
By segment, Fast Casual narrowly beat out Full Service, with 3% sales growth, and Full Service at 1% compared to May 2022's numbers. Overall sales ended at 1%. Both Mother's Day and Memorial Day Weekend saw big sales spikes, which we always love to see starting the summer months.
Eggs and chicken drumsticks the Droppers list, so we can finally solve that age-old question of which comes first. And soft shell crab season started with a bang, landing at the top of our Movers list with a 107% price increase compared to April 2023 prices.
Food, beer, wine and liquor costs as a percentage of sales came up slightly for MarginEdge customers in May, with food costs averaging 29% of sales.
Mother's Day sales were big across the country, with each region peaking near 8% growth.
We're looking forward to more warm-weather sales and are excited to see what June's numbers bring. See you in June.