Despite this growing trend for eating out and a steadily expanding sales volume, the mortality rate in the food service industry is extremely high. What are the causes for failure? Food sales in the restaurant industry reached over 17 billion dollars in 1958. This represents a sales increase of more than 40 per cent since 1950.a Despite this growing trend for eating out and a steadily expanding sales volume, the mortality rate in the food service industry is extremely high. One investigation after another has shown that from one-fourth to one-third of the restaurants that begin their existence in any one year were out of business by the end of that year. What are the causes for failure? This question was asked of many highly successful food service organizations and operators in the country. Invariably they replied that a restaurant operator will fail unless he has a thorough knowledge of food.a