Company Profile
Company Overview
The National Restaurant Association (NRA) is the largest foodservice trade association in the world*—supporting nearly 500,000 restaurant businesses. In partnership with our state restaurant associations (SRA), we have more than 750 staffers working to empower all restaurant owners and operators to achieve more than they thought possible.
We represent and advocate for foodservice industry interests with state, local and national policymakers—taking on financial and regulatory obstacles before they hit our members’ bottom line. We provide tools and systems that help members of all sizes get significantly better operating results. And we offer the kinds of networking, education and research resources that are only possible because of our vast, and active, membership base.
We save our members time, money and headaches by helping them take on what matters most for their success and growth—whether that’s protecting their economic interests, sharing best practices, or getting them in front of emerging trends.
We strive to move our industry forward by finding answers to the tough questions, distilling complex information into practical knowledge and helping our members navigate the issues that can leave them in the weeds. And that makes us the go-to resource for smart, relevant intelligence that helps our members run their businesses better.
At the NRA, we believe that there is strength in numbers. When we come together as an industry, our collective voice is stronger and our impact is greater than when any of us stands alone. And that means our shared spirit of hospitality, passion for serving others and belief in the American entrepreneurial dream will be safeguarded and advanced.
*Largest foodservice trade association by membership.
Company History
A Taste of Our History
1917: When egg brokers try to demand a price of 65 cents a dozen, the year-old Kansas City Restaurant Association, one of the restaurant industry's earliest professional associations, organizes an egg boycott. Egg prices plummet to 32 cents. The seeds of a national movement are sown.
1919: Kansas City restaurateurs launch a national organization, holding the first meeting of what is today's National Restaurant Association on March 13 in Kansas City. The fledgling organization represents an industry of 43,000 restaurants.
1920: Prohibition begins in 1920, kicking off a 13-year ban on alcohol sales. Restaurants that are used to serving free sandwiches with five-cent beers need to develop new marketing tactics — and they do. Despite Prohibition, the industry thrives, riding a wave of national prosperity. Howard Johnson's opens its first franchises, White Castle's five-cent burgers grow popular, and Willard Marriott opens his first Hot Shoppes.
1927: The growing National Restaurant Association moves its headquarters from Kansas City to Chicago.
1930s: Prohibition ends, but the Depression is in full swing. Congress's National Recovery Act requires each industry to prepare a "Code of Fair Competition" in 1933. The National Restaurant Association quickly complies. Membership doubles.
1930s: In an appeal to customers in bleak times, the National Restaurant Association tries out two advertising slogan: "Enjoy Life— Eat Out More Often" and "Take Her Out to Dinner at Least Once a Week."
1940s: World War II gas rations and travel restrictions result in the cancellation of national restaurant conventions from 1942 to 1945. In their place, the National Restaurant Association institutes a program of wartime conferences dealing with such concerns as food, equipment and labor shortages.
1940s: Post-WWII restaurant sales hit a new high. The number of meals served triples from a prewar level of 20 million meals a day to a postwar level of more than 60 million meals a day. The National Restaurant Association launches an Educational Department to help busy restaurateurs do their jobs better. The Association also produces its first film "America's Heritage of Hospitality" to promote the industry and recruit new employees.
1950s: The National Restaurant Association endorses the use of credit cards, and supports a new type of dinner — the "take home" meal — that families could enjoy at home in front of their new black and white television sets. McDonald's launches its "Speedee System," and fast food is born. To whet customers' appetites for eating out, the National Restaurant Association commissions two songs: "Pass the Meat, Pass the Potatoes" (1951) and "Let's Go Out to a Restaurant" (1953).
1960s: The Association celebrates its 50th anniversary in 1969 at the National Restaurant Association Convention and Exposition with the theme "Golden Opportunities." The industry evolves. In an age of national experimentation, more restaurateurs forgo traditional French cooking techniques. New ethnic flavors and locally-grown produce make their way on to menus.
1970s: The energy crisis, inflation, beef shortages and more government mean growing pains for the restaurant industry. In 1979, the National Restaurant Association relocates its headquarters from Chicago to Washington, D.C., to better communicate the industry's messages to lawmakers.
1981: National Restaurant Association launches Restaurants USA magazine and the Washington Report newsletter to keep members abreast of industry news.
1987: In response to the industry's growing professionalism, the Association creates what is now known as the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation to produce educational programs and materials on everything from food safety to responsible beverage-alcohol service.
1980s: The National Restaurant Association becomes more politically active. Tip-reporting rules, tip taxes, business meal deductibility, employment law, minimum wage and other public-policy issues take center stage for the restaurant industry.
1999: The U.S. Department of Commerce declares 1999 the "Year of the Restaurant" in recognition of the industry's significant contribution to the U.S. economy.
1999: The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation certifies its one millionth restaurant-industry professional in its ServSafe food-safety training program.
2001: Eight thousand operators participated in the National Restaurant Association’s first Dine for America, raising more than $20 Million.
2005: Following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the National Restaurant Association mobilized more than 17,000 restaurants to participate in Dine for America, raising more than $10 Million dollars for the Red Cross.
2011: The National Restaurant Association launches Kids LiveWell, a new initiative that showcases the restaurant industry’s commitment to offer healthful options for children. The organization also responds to California Food Handler legislation, training and testing nearly 700,000 food handlers, and collaborates with United HealthCare to develop a Restaurant Health Care Knowledge Center.
2012: The National Restaurant Association relocates its headquarters in Washington, D.C. The organization certifies its five millionth restaurant-industry professional in its ServSafe food-safety training program.
Here we are today...
With 12.9 million employees, the restaurant industry is the nation's second-largest private-sector employer.
In 2012, Americans spent about 48 percent of their food dollar at nearly 1 million restaurants.
As the industry flourishes, the National Restaurant Association continues to help restaurateurs meet new challeng