The COVID pandemic has created an intense battle for quick-service market share.
Many of the biggest restaurants in fast-food are boasting about how excited their franchisees are.
“If you look back at the last five years, and if you look both in the pizza industry and the [quick-service restaurant] industry as far as actual number of net stores and percentage, Domino’s is a leader in that, and still with these numbers we’re going to continue to be a leader,” said Domino's CEO Russell Weiner. “Also what I think that tells me is while we continue to lead in development, our franchisees are doing exactly what they need to do, which is balancing the capacity needs between the current stores they have and stores they need to open.”
Chains are pumped about their own growth, as well. Chipotle, which is completely company-owned, opened 42 stores in the second quarter. The fast casual has unit growth target of 8-10 percent annually, and it has the pipeline to do it. Eighty percent of locations in development are Chipotlanes, which come with higher AUV and margins.
Each year, the QSR 50 captures how the top players in fast food improve their footprint on an annual basis. The following is a ranking of the top 25 fastest growing chains in the U.S.
Check Out Past Results:
2021
2020
2019
2018
Other Related Lists:
The Top 50 Fast-Food Chains of 2021
The 50 Biggest Fast-Food Chains in America
These 32 Fast-Food Chains Earn the Most Per Restaurant
The QSR Contenders for 2022
Note: The unit counts are by U.S. restaurants as of 2021 year end.
Note: If viewing on desktop, please click the arrow in the picture to continue. * Indicates estimate by QSR.
