Inspire Brands’ global footprint is nearing 32,000 restaurants, the company shared Thursday. The parent of Dunkin’, Baskin-Robbins, Sonic Drive-In, Jimmy John’s, Rusty Taco, and Buffalo Wild Wings expanded its franchise base by more than 5 percent, year-over-year, or 3,400 total franchisees across the portfolio.
Inspire also eclipsed $30 billion in total global system sales—a double-digit year-over-year increase that saw it spread to 70 markets globally, including further expansion into Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.
READ MORE: Why Inspire’s restaurant empire is only going to get bigger
CEO and Inspire co-founder Paul Brown said in a statement each brand hit record growth last year “despite challenging macroeconomic and industry conditions.”
“Through our culture of innovation and using our collective scale to make shared investments in automation, digital, and loyalty, we continue to realize the benefits of having six unique but united restaurant concepts together on one platform,” he said. “Looking ahead, we will continue scaling centralized investments in people and technology to propel future growth across our brands.”
Inspire, which was formed February 2018 following Arby’s Restaurant Group’s $2.9 billion purchase of Buffalo Wild Wings, said it generated U.S. digital sales growth north of 35 percent, year-over-year, to $6 billion-plus—good for more than 20 percent of domestic system sales. The company also surpassed $1 billion in sales via third-party marketplace. Overall, digital sales now represent over $7 billion of Inspire’s global take.
Across the company, to Brown’s point of leveraging scale and diversification, Inspire’s loyalty user base hiked to nearly 50 million members.
Inspire opened more than 1,400 units in 2021, including over 500 U.S. franchise-led stores and 800 locations outside the country.
By brand, here’s a look at recent same-store sales results (U.S.):
Arby’s
- One year: 5.2 percent
- Two year: 11.7 percent
Baskin
- One year: 9.9 percent
- Two year: 13.6 percent
Buffalo Wild Wings
- One year: 22.8 percent
- Two year: 1.2 percent
Dunkin’
- One year: 15.5 percent
- Two year: 10.4 percent
Jimmy John’s
- One year: 21.3 percent
- Two year: 11.8 percent
Sonic
- One year: 4.7 percent
- Two year: 25.8 percent
“While there are certainly a number of headwinds facing the restaurant industry this year, I’m optimistic about the future growth trajectory driven by the positive momentum of our brands,” Brown added. “Grounded in our purpose to ignite and nourish flavorful experiences, and supported by shared capabilities and platforms, Inspire is poised for continued growth.”
