Toast Data: The Most Popular Alcohol by State, #Burgerflation, and Cafe & Bakery Insights

Toast (NYSE: TOST), the all-in-one digital platform built for restaurants, today announced its Q2 2023 Restaurant Trends Report, providing insight into the overall state of the U.S. restaurant industry through an analysis of aggregated sales data from selected cohorts of restaurants in the U.S. and select metropolitan areas on the Toast platform, which serves approximately 93,000 restaurant locations as of June 30, 2023.

Along with the Toast for Cafes & Bakeries launch, this report also features some recent trends in the space. For the full report, please visit the Toast Newsroom.

Key trends include:

• America loves beer: The most popular alcoholic drink in all 50 states for the cohort we observed is a nice, cold beer. Minnesota, in particular, really likes beer, drinking about 53% more beer per restaurant location than the average of all 50 states.¹
• Ohio goes hard for hard seltzer: Our data suggests that Ohio is the hard seltzer capital of the United States. Ohio sold 160% more hard seltzers per restaurant location we observed in Q2 2023 than the average state. Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Florida have also developed a love for the bubbly beverage. To put that into context, restaurants in Wyoming that we looked at served the least hard seltzer than those in every other state, averaging about 66% less hard seltzers than the average in Q2 2023.¹
• Boston and Minneapolis metro area cafes and bakeries are up 6% YOY: Toast data shows that the Boston and Minneapolis metro areas increased transaction counts per restaurant location for the cohort we observed in Q2 2023 by 6% YOY (year-over-year), while the Philadelphia and Detroit metropolitan areas had an increase of 5%. Rounding out the top five, the New York City metro area also saw an increase of 4% in Q2 2023 compared to Q2 2022.²
• The State of Tipping in America: Total tips on restaurants we observed on the Toast platform averaged 18.9% of total check amounts in Q2 2023, down slightly from 19.0% in Q1 2023.³
  • Full-service restaurant (FSR) tips, where tipped employees may make a lower hourly wage in the U.S., dipped to an average of 19.4% of total check amounts in Q2 2023, down from 19.7% in Q1 2023. However, quick-service restaurant tips, which our data indicates have been slowly dropping since 2018, ticked up slightly to 16.1% from 16.0% in Q2 2023.³

Methodology:

¹ Toast analyzed transactions from a cohort of restaurants on the Toast platform from April 1, 2023, to June 30, 2023, to determine the popularity of beer, wine, cider, hard seltzer, vodka, tequila, whiskey, gin, rum, and brandy per restaurant location in all 50 U.S. states in Q2 2023. Toast used a cohort of same-store customers on the platform since Q1 2022 that served alcohol.

² Toast analyzed the number of transactions at cafes and bakeries in 17 select metropolitan areas on the Toast platform to determine the average number of transactions per restaurant location on the Toast platform in Q2 2022 and Q2 2023. Toast used a cohort of same-store customers on the platform since Q1 2022. Transactions were not adjusted for total transaction volume. MSAs with minimal cafes and bakeries on the Toast platform were excluded.

³ Data from restaurants on the Toast platform with tipping enabled and where a tip was added to the order via a card or digital payment. Toast compared tips from restaurants using the Toast platform from Q1 2018 to Q2 2023. Cash tips are not included in the analysis.

About the Restaurant Trends Report:

The Restaurant Trends Report, powered by Toast, uncovers key trends across the restaurant industry through aggregated sales data from a selection of cohorts of restaurants on the Toast platform, which has approximately 93,000 locations as of June 30, 2023.

This information is provided for general informational purposes only, and publication does not constitute an endorsement. Toast does not warrant the accuracy or completeness of any information, text, graphics, links, or other items contained within this content. Individual results may vary. Toast does not guarantee you will achieve any specific results if you follow any advice herein. It may be advisable for you to consult with a professional such as a lawyer, accountant, or business advisor for advice specific to your situation. The Restaurant Trends Report is not indicative of the operational performance of Toast or its reported financial metrics, including GMV growth and same-store GMV growth.