Fast-casual restaurant chains, which are upscale quick-service restaurant (QSR) concepts, continue to be on a winning streak, growing both in units and customer visits, finds The NPD Group, a global information company. The number of fast-casual chain restaurants rose by 5% to 19,043 total units, based on NPD’s Fall 2015 ReCount restaurant census, which includes restaurants open as of Sept. 30, 2015. Fast-casual customers increased their visits by 6% in the year ending February 2016 compared to a year ago, while total foodservice traffic rose by 1%, according to NPD’s ongoing foodservice market research.
The top five fast-casual restaurant chains based on number of units are as follows: Chipotle Mexican Grill, 1,896 units, up 9%; Panera Bread, 1,869 units, up 9%; Panda Express, 1,729 units, up 5%; Five Guys Burgers and Fries, 1,225 units, up 4%; and Firehouse Subs, 925 units, up 10%. These and other fast-casual chains have been one of the success stories of the restaurant industry for the last several years.
The fast-casual category is still a relatively small slice of the total foodservice industry. Fast-casual restaurants represent 7% of total quick-service visits, which represents 78% of total foodservice industry traffic. In units, the fast-casual category is a small portion of the total 343,407 quick-service restaurants in United States. The total U.S. restaurant count decreased slightly (-0.6%) from a year ago to 629,488 units, based on NPD’s Fall 2015 ReCount restaurant census.
“There has been significant unit growth in the fast-casual category over the past several years, and it hasn’t reached a saturation point since traffic is still increasing,” said Greg Starzynski, director, product management, NPD Foodservice. “This would indicate that there is room for more growth for the fast-casual category into the foreseeable future.”
