Eating Places as Food Marketers--Methods, Problems and Areas for Further Research

Eating places market substantial quantities of food products and thus are important to food producers and distributors. They also constitute a unique marketing channel, because many services are sold along with food, thus increasing the costs of marketing. Moreover, quantities, types, and prices of food consumed in eating places are somewhat different from those prevailing in homes. Little if any previous research has been done on measuring the relative importance, costs, and other characteristics of eating places as distributors of food products. This article discusses the methods used and the problems encountered in a pilot study conducted in Minneapolis and Fairmont, Minn., and prepared under the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (RMA, Title II); outlines the areas in which further research is needed; and suggests procedures for this research. Related problems for the United States as a whole are discussed in the article, "Distribution of Food Supply of the United States" by Marguerite C. Burk in this issue of Agricultural Economics Research. As the piolet study is based on a limited number of case studies and on estimated data, the findings are only tentative, or are indicative rather than conclusive. Detailed information as to objectives, methods, data, and limitations are contained in "Eating Places as Marketers of Food Products," U.S. Dept. Agr. Marketing Research Rept. 3. (In press.)