ASK ALISON: What is the MAFSI Business Barometer Survey and Why is it Important to the Foodservice Industry? - Aug/Sept 2024

Question: What is the MAFSI Business Barometer Survey and Why is it Important to the Foodservice Industry?

Answer:

The MAFSI Business Barometer Survey is most definitive non-food indicator of sales trends, with an inside look at regional and national sales and forecasts for equipment, supplies, tabletop, and furniture and consultant and quoting activity in North America.

Note: The Q2/2024 MAFSI Business Barometer will be released to the industry on September 11, 2024.

The Barometer is a key tool for both reps and manufacturers, offering several benefits:

• Setting Performance Standards:
  • It provides benchmarks for evaluating performance and setting quotas, ensuring consistency across regions.
    
    
• Understanding Local Markets:
  • Rep and Manufacturer Members use it to assess their specific areas, helping them adjust strategies based on local trends.
    
    
• Reviewing Past and Predicting Future Trends:
  • The survey helps analyze past results, understand current conditions, and forecast future trends, aligning strategies with market realities.
    
    
• Consistency and Trend Tracking:
  • The Barometer consistently tracks trends over time, highlighting regional differences to better respond to market changes.

Why is the Barometer So Important?

For years MAFSI had discussed the best way to give the industry clear sales information - to provide an accurate picture of how business is doing.

In 2002, we instituted the MAFSI Business Barometer Survey, which breaks down the market both nationally and regionally, into fourteen product categories and equipment sub-categories. The survey results are watched as the leading economic indicator by factories, Wall Street and the industry. 

It is the marketplace’s key economic indicator for the 15-billion-dollar foodservice industry. Why? Because the results come from our reps, the manufacturers' sales force. There is no one else in this industry better able to provide this information than the rep, the people who live and breathe it across North America every day.

Why do we need involvement from all MAFSI Rep Firms?

It is critically important that this information - which is sent to everyone in the industry, investment firms and available to the public - is precise. That's why we need all rep firms to participate in this survey every quarter. For MAFSI to continue to measure the marketplace accurately as our 20+ year Barometer history it's imperative we have all 225 responses from our rep members. The information you provide is always confidential.

Here is the information you, as a Rep Firm, need to take the survey:

• Sales for the past quarter vs. sales for that quarter last year.
• Projected overall sales/quoting activity and consultant activity for the upcoming quarter vs. sales for the same quarter last year.

Recently, we created a new Barometer Excel Tool for Rep Firms to easily complete the Business Barometer. This tool is like it sounds; it is an Excel spreadsheet that has been formatted to calculate the percentages needed to complete the survey.

The 3rd Quarter 2024 Barometer results will be sent to reps on October 14 and released to the industry on November 18. 

Learn more about MAFSI's Quarterly Business Barometer.

Have a question for Ask Alison? Email Alison at acody@mafsi.org.