Dinova, Inc., the only innovative proprietary marketplace exclusively focused on connecting business diners to restaurants nationwide, announced its second quarter marketplace results.  Business dining spend through Dinova's marketplace has increased 21% in the second quarter of 2017, with a 16% growth in the number of business dining transactions and a 6% increase in the average business dining transaction size, over Q2 2016.

For the first half of the year, business dining spend through Dinova's marketplace has increased 20%, with a 14% growth in the number of business dining transactions and a 9% increase in the average business dining transaction size, over H1 2016.

"The continued growth of our proprietary business dining marketplace underscores the importance of business dining segment to the restaurant industry. Participating Dinova restaurants enjoyed increased traffic and overall growth from Dinova's business dining marketplace in Q2," said Vic Macchio, CEO and founder of Dinova. "In addition, we were honored to receive three major business growth/accelerator awards this quarter, which is additional market validation for our role in driving business diner traffic to restaurants."  In Q2 2017, Dinova saw participating enterprise corporations shift 18.23% more of their existing business dining spend into Dinova preferred restaurants vs. Q2 2016. 

Dinova estimates that business dining industry-wide sales was down 1% in Q2 2017 vs. Q2 2016, making Dinova's marketplace performance even more noteworthy. Consumer traffic was down once again in Q2 2017 with a 3.1% decline, according to Black Box Intelligence – a TDn2K company.

Based on Dinova's unique view into the business dining market, Dinova is also reporting the following Q2 industry-wide business dining traffic trends:

• 71% spending increase at Fine Dining establishments; driven by a 17% increase in number of business dining transactions

• 44% spending increase at Casual establishments; driven by a 15% increase in number of business dining transactions

• 5% spending increase at QSR establishments; driven by an 9% increase in number of business dining transactions

• Fast Casual establishments were the only segment to see a spending decrease, with a 5% decline in spending and a 1% decrease in number of business dining transactions

Dinova continually welcomes new, diverse restaurants to its business dining marketplace. Two such examples are Restaurants Unlimited, Inc. and Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza.

Since opening its first restaurant in 1969, Restaurants Unlimited, Inc. has brought its talent for bringing the finest food to some of the best possible locations across the nation. RUI operates 20 different restaurant brands in 44 locations throughout the U.S. The restaurants are located in 10 states, including Alaska and Hawaii. RUI is headquartered in Seattle and owned by private equity firm Sun Capital Partners.

"We were looking for a new marketing partnership that would help drive sales, grow our audience and increase awareness of our brands to the right stakeholders," said Laura McMillan, Director of Marketing at RUI. "We liked the prospect of working with Dinova because it hit all the marks in terms of the audience we wanted to reach without hurting our brand images. That, on top of the added awareness the partnership will bring to our Private Dining and Event programs, made the decision to work with Dinova a no-brainer."

Unveiled in 2002, Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza introduced the concept of coal oven pizza to south Floridians. Led by founder, Anthony Bruno, the vision was to create coal oven pizza delivering a crisp, "well done" taste that rivaled the ones he enjoyed while growing up in New York. Armed with authentic recipes, the first restaurant opened in Fort Lauderdale, with a strong, successful response.

Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza serves up award-winning (USA TODAY), authentic Coal Fired Pizza, Oven Roasted Chicken Wings, homemade meatballs, Eggplant Marino (named after partner and NFL hall of famer Dan Marino) and Anthony's Classic Italian Salad. With over 60 locations in the NE and Florida, Anthony's has become a household name, delivering the signature crisp, "well done" taste.

"We are thrilled to be partnering with Dinova. Their innovative concept is a win-win for the restaurants they are offering up as well as the corporations that can offer their employees incredible dining options; while saving money," said Danielle Guzzetta, SVP of Marketing for Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza. "We are excited to be able to tap into the business channel and share our craveable food with as many customers as possible."

Dinova is also reporting that last month, it was named a finalist for the 2017 Technology Association of Georgia SSA Impact Awards in the Technology Solutions Provider category. The TAG SSA Impact Awards "recognize companies which have demonstrated outstanding leadership in bringing new technology solutions to the market."

Additionally, Dinova has been selected to compete for the Business Travel Innovator Award at the 4th annual Innovate, the conference for the advancement of business travel, hosted by The BTN Group. Presentations take place on September 28, in New York, in front of a panel of industry judges where two winners will be selected and announced the following day.