In a tough restaurant market, business dining is a bright spot
Business dining spending shows resilience amid overall restaurant industry challenges.
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In a challenging market, business dining spending increased by 3.8% in 2025, outpacing overall consumer dining growth. The category represents a significant portion of restaurant revenue, driven by the return of in-person work and business travel. As certain sectors thrive, independent restaurants benefit most from this trend.
Why It Matters
This suggests that franchisees focusing on dining experiences catering to business clients may find new revenue opportunities. Areas that thrive in business dining could also indicate potential territory shifts as firms look to expand their offerings.
Recent insights from a Dinova report reveal that despite ongoing challenges in the broader restaurant sector, business dining is showing promising growth. In 2025, total business dining spending increased by 3.8%, while consumer restaurant spending modestly rose by 2.8%. This segment, which includes meals tied to business activities such as client lunches, travel, and office catering, generates approximately $250 billion annually, representing nearly 23% of food-away-from-home spending in the U.S.
Factors contributing to this growth include a resurgence in in-office work and business travel, which have significantly boosted demand for catering services and professional gatherings. More than half of business meetings are anticipated to take place face-to-face this year, with business travel spending expected to reach record highs. Specifically, after a slow start affected by weather and budget resets, business dining saw a notable rebound in February and March, with March sales rising by 8.5% and traffic increasing by 5.3% year-over-year.
Independent restaurants stand to benefit substantially, as they capture 72% of business dining expenditures. However, the growth in business dining is not consistent across all sectors or regions. Industries like finance, technology, healthcare, and industrials have experienced significant increases in spending, at rates of 10.7%, 7.1%, 5.6%, and 4.1% respectively. Conversely, sectors more vulnerable to economic downturns, such as consumer goods and energy, are cutting back on dining expenses, with reported declines of 9.8% and 3.1% in business dining spending, respectively.
