Chains Grow Unit Count at Highest Rate in Years

Chain restaurants are gaining ground. Technomic reports that the domestic footprint of the Top 500 chain restaurants increased 1.8% in 2023, marking the highest rate of new location growth since 2016.

The finding comes from Technomic’s recently posted 2024 Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report.

Sales grew, too, by 7.8%, driven by rising prices and the upswing in openings, Technomic says in a release. It projects cumulative Top 500 sales to climb to $453 billion dollars in 2024, reflecting a forecasted increase of nearly 7% compared to 2023.

Offering a closer look, Technomic shares that the Top 500 limited-service sales growth surged by 8.5% in 2023, while full service saw a “notably slower” increase of 5%. Chicken chains and beverage concepts earn mention as well. Chicken chains saw double-digit growth (up more than 12%) for the fifth straight year, and beverage concept leaders  Tropical Smoothie Cafe and Smoothie King experienced double-digit sales growth. It notes that upstarts HTeaO and Swig surged into the Top 500 rankings for the first time.

In January, FER hosted a session on how to efficiently grow unit count at its Multiunit Foodservice Equipment Symposium.