Xu: US food spend flipped from 80% groceries to 60% dining out
Tony Xu · The economics and trends of the restaurant industry, with Tony Xu of DoorDash · Apr 21, 2026 · at 20:50
DoorDash co-founder and CEO Tony Xu explains the historical shift in American consumer food expenditure from home groceries to restaurants.
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“It used to be that in the, you know, these are rough numbers, but in the 19 fifties when the government was measuring this, we would spend in this country, in America, maybe 75 to 80 cents on the dollar on groceries versus restaurants. In present day, you know, those numbers are almost reversed, where it's, you know, almost 60 cents on the dollar on takeout and 40 cents on grocery.”
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