Thread by @davidhenkes

1/ Last week I put a thread out about the performance of the Top 1,500 #restaurant chains. Today, our @Technomic much-anticipated top 500 chain report was issued, & it's worth digging a bit into the biggest of the chain market. The details are here:
technomic.com/reports/indust…

2/ Several years ago, it was a big deal when none of the top 10 #restaurant chains in the US were full-service. This reflected the ongoing strength of #fastfood and #fastcasual.

With 2020's results, none of the top 20 restaurant chains are full service.

3/ Overall, the top 500 chain #restaurant sales decreased 8.2% in 2020 - not bad during a pandemic. Importantly, those limited service chains in the top 500 only decreaed 1.9% - a pretty good performance during a #pandemic.

4/ Chains are an increasingly big part of the #restaurant industry. Pre-pandemic, top 500 chains were 57% of the industry - with 2020's results, we see that the top 500 now represent 65% of all restaurant sales. That's an unprecedented 1 year gain.

5/ There was a huge range of performance. @Wingstop was the fastest growing chain last year, up 31% (!). #Eatertainment was hit hard and Dave & Busters saw the biggest decline, losing 70% of its revenue last year.

6/ @Mcdonalds eked out a small increase in sales, but the sheer size of their US operations remains massive. They represent ~13% of all sales in the Top 500 #restaurant report.

7/ Perhaps unsurprisingly, the limited service #chicken category was the best performing #menu segment in the top 500 #restaurant list. When you have strong performers like Chick-fil-A, Popeyes, Raising Cane's and Wingstop, it makes sense.

8/ Also, a note on the change in #restaurant units. Limited service chain outlets only lost a net of about 2% of total. Full service, for all the challenges, only lost a net of ~4% of locations. Unit count declines weren't nearly as dire as I've seen reported elsewhere.

9/ My @RB_magazine colleague Jonathan Maze @jonathanmaze summarized some other changes here:

restaurantbusinessonline.com/financing/tech…

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We @Technomic are proud of our 55 year heritage in tracking the #restaurant and broader #foodservice industry, and we have chain results going back to the early 70s. We will continue to be the go-to resource for credible industry data, intelligence and insights.