For leading restaurant chains, the past year was somewhat of a mixed bag. The overall foodservice industry didn’t perform as well in 2014 as it had in 2013, with declines partly attributed to the harsh weather that kept consumers out of restaurants. The good news is that the industry has continued to rebound from economic dips and is expected to gradually improve further in the coming years.
Growth within “Technomic’s Top 500 Chain Restaurants” list (ranked by U.S. sales) outpaced the growth of the restaurant industry overall, with cumulative 2014 US sales for the 500 largest chains rising by 4% and exceeding overall restaurant sales of 3.8%. In the $466 billion restaurant industry, unit growth was up 1.3%, while units were added within Technomic’s Top 500 ranked chains at a rate of 2.1%. A major positive is that overall growth in 2014 was higher than in 2013 (4 vs. 3.3%, respectively), illustrating the ability of the industry’s top players to steadily build on this foundation, as the economy continues to improve.