National Issues

National Restaurant Association News Release Feed - Business and Public Policy News

• American Men Hunger for Restaurant Gift Cards This Valentine's Day
  (Washington, D.C.) While dining out remains a popular choice for Americans to celebrate Valentine's Day, new National Restaurant Association research shows that nearly one-third would also like to receive a restaurant gift card on February 14. However, men show a much stronger preference for restaurant gift cards as a Valentine's Day gift than women do at nearly half.
  
  
• National Restaurant Association's First-Of-Its-Kind "Kids LiveWell" Initiative Triples to Include 68 Restaurant Brands
  (Washington, D.C.) The National Restaurant Association today announced that the number of restaurant companies participating in its "Kids LiveWell" program has more than tripled since the initiative's launch last July. Currently, 68 restaurant brands representing more than 20,000 locations have committed to "Kids LiveWell," a first-of-its-kind voluntary program that provides parents with a growing selection of healthful children's menu choices when dining out. The initiative focuses on increasing consumption of fruit and vegetables, lean protein, whole grains and low-fat dairy, and limiting unhealthy fats, sugars and sodium.
  
  
• National Restaurant Association Continues Push for Extension of Tax Provisions to Spur Economic Growth, Job Creation
  (Washington, D.C.) As part of its wide scale campaign to tell Congress of the importance of tax certainty to restaurateurs, the National Restaurant Association today called on Congressional members to act swiftly on two tax provisions critical to the restaurant industry - the 15-year depreciation schedule for restaurant improvements/new construction and the Work Opportunity Tax Credit. In a letter to all members, the Association called for the two provisions, which expired at the end of 2011, to be prospectively and retroactively extended through 2012 as part of the payroll-tax reduction measure currently under consideration.
  
  
• Hundreds of Restaurateurs from Across Country to Gather in Washington for National Restaurant Association's 2012 Public Affairs Conference
  (Washington, D.C.) An expected 500 restaurateurs from across the country will convene in Washington April 17-18, 2012, for the National Restaurant Association's 26th annual Public Affairs Conference.
  
  
• Restaurant Industry Set to Outpace National Job Growth, Reach Record Sales in 2012
  (Washington, D.C.) Despite sluggish recovery by the nation's economy, the restaurant industry is projected to expand in 2012, according to the National Restaurant Association's 2012 Restaurant Industry Forecast released today. Total restaurant industry sales are expected to reach a record high of $632 billion in 2012 - a 3.5 percent increase over 2011, marking the second consecutive year that industry sales have topped $600 billion.