FIND IT ON Firefly 500 Report
An Overhead View of America’s Top 500 Restaurant Chains NumbersNumbers WithWith AA Story.Story. The inaugural Firefly 500 Report reframes the industry’s big picture. Get more than the typical performance metrics. Understand the potential of the largest restaurant chains by integrating their numbers with insights from Datassential’s dynamic platforms.
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The Firefly 500 Chain Restaurant Report ranks the industry’s most significant players by unit count, showing which brands are winning the competition for real estate, star franchisees, and investor interest. By tracking unit growth and its effect on chains’ sales and AUVs, you can identify the next category killer or the next killer category.
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The Firefly platform powers the collection of sales and location data for the Firefly 500, but it’s not the only Big Data application behind our insights. Operator data from the PULSE service, combined with consumer findings from SCORES and BrandFingerprints, measure the impact of the latest menu and operations moves for chains.
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Purchasers of the report receive an iDEA Tool for segment-level reporting and lead generation, as well as expanded chain profiles in SNAP! Access new and upgraded metrics like chains’ sales and unit growth figures, top metro markets, menu composites, and more.
To purchase or learn more, please contact: Brian Darr / [email protected] / 312.655.0594 thethe industryindustry story,story, byby thethe numbers.numbers.
$308.95 -0.7% decline in unit count for the Full-Service billion 232,228 Restaurant segment. in annual sales While the Buffet and Pizza locations in the among Top 500 sectors contracted units United States chain brands. significantly in 2018, there among the 500 were some standout largest brands. segments, including Sports Bars, Seafood and Steak restaurants, and Salad-Healthful led all Limited Service Ethnic-cuisine brands. segments in unit count growth in 2018.
Salad-Healthful 10.6%
Coffee 4.2%
Mexican 3.7% 54% of operators said Asian 3.3% adding third- party delivery was incremental to sales. Chicken 2.4%
Bakery-Café 2.3%
To purchase or learn more, please contact: Brian Darr / [email protected] / 312.655.0594 Sample Pages
05 Top 500 at a Glance 09 LSR Chicken: Key Players
06 Key Insight: Better Burger 10 LSR Chicken: 2018 LTO Standouts
07 Key Insight: Three Tiers of LSR Pizza 11-12 LSR Chicken: Consumer Perception
08 Segment Analysis: LSR Chicken
To purchase or learn more, please contact: Brian Darr / [email protected] / 312.655.0594 SECTION 01 Top 500 sales grew +1.9% in 2018, compared with 2019. Unit growth lagged slightly behind, at +0.8% for the Top 500.
UNITS SALES 232,228 $308.95 units 35% of total billion industry units. in annual U.S. sales. 67% of total industry sales.
Gerald Oksanen, Datassential Senior Analyst.
FIREFLY 500 REPORT 5 “Better burger” settles into maturity.
With the exception of fast-growing Habit, the first “better burger” chains have backed off from their expansion tear from 15 years ago.
Shake Shack is leading the third wave of the burger segment’s growth, increasing sales 24% to $468.5 million, which puts it in the 100 largest brands by sales.
LEGACY BRANDS BETTER BURGER FORERUNNERS +0.1% units +0.4% sales +1.5% units Top 500 chains ranked Nos. 1-100 by unit +3.2% sales count: McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Five Guys, Smashburger, The Habit Sonic, Jack in the Box, Hardee’s, Carl’s Burger Grill, Burger Fi, Farmer Jr., Checkers, Rally’s, Whataburger, Boys, Mooyah Burgers & Fries, Culver’s, Steak N Shake, A&W, White Fatburger Castle, Krystal, Freddy’s, In-N-Out Burger 6 The LSR Pizza segment slices into three tiers.
DOMINO’S PIZZA THE NATIONAL CHAINS +0.4% units +1.4% sales Six pizza chains rank in the top 50 by unit count: Pizza 1 Hut, Domino’s Pizza, Little Caesars, Papa John’s, Papa Murphy’s, and Marco’s Pizza. In 2018 they continued to overwhelm smaller, more regional quick-service pizza brands with their national scale, deep franchisee base, and advantages in digital-ordering technology.
BLAZE PIZZA FAST-CASUAL BRANDS +5.4% units +18.2% sales Though it’s one of the fastest-growing subsegments 2 in the restaurant industry, fast-casual pizza is pretty much a duopoly, with MOD Pizza and Blaze Pizza each growing their unit counts, sales and AUVs by double-digit percentages. The sector is also shaking out its overbuilt brands, as Pie Five and Zpizza shed locations in 2018.
JETS PIZZA PIZZA’S MIDDLE CLASS -1.0% units -0.1% sales There are 48 limited-service pizza chains sitting 3 between the national and fast-casual upstarts. Some have been able to separate themselves and significantly grow their systems by differentiating. Jet’s Pizza, for instance, focuses on Detroit-style pizza, and Pizza Patron aggressively markets to and serves the Latinx community.
FIREFLY 500 REPORT 7 SEGMENT ANALYSIS
2018 U.S. SALES 2018 U.S. UNITS $25.01 14,655 billion units Spicy Chicken Tenders from Popeye’s. 10.5% of all LSR sales 7.1% of all LSR units +4.9% compared with 2017 +2.4% compared with 2017
FIREFLY 500 REPORT 8 LSR CHICKEN SEGMENT LEADERS
2018 U.S. Top 500 2018 U.S. % Unit Sales % Sales 2018 AUV Chain Rank Units Growth ($000) Growth ($000)
KFC 12 4,074 -0.9% $4,388,384 -0.6% $1,077
Chick-Fil-A 19 2,398 +6.5% $9,050,728 +9.2% $3,774
Popeye's 20 2,230 +3.1% $3,223,893 +4.6% $1,446
Wingstop 37 1,070 +4.2% $1,113,160 +7.0% $1,040
Church's Chicken 38 974 -1.5% $773,209 -2.1% $794
Zaxbys 41 903 +3.0% $1,896,635 +5.0% $2,100
Bojangles' 48 768 +0.9% $1,307,270 +2.0% $1,702
Boston Market 79 446 -0.2% $602,514 -0.4% $1,351
Raising Canes 88 397 +12.8% $1,014,263 +8.0% $2,555
Chicken Express 121 243 +7.5% $169,533 +7.8% $698
2018 GROWTH CHAINS
Fried Chicken Tenders at Slim Chickens. Top 500 Sales Growth
Slim Chickens +22.1%
PDQ +20.8%
Chick-Fil-A +9.2%
Top 500 Unit Growth
Slim Chickens +35.0%
PDQ +22.4%
Raising Canes +12.8%
9 LSR CHICKEN NEW 2018 LTOs
01 Crispy Pollo Bites with a base of Mac & Cheese. Comes with apple juice and a cookie.
POLLO TROPICAL KIDS CHICKEN & MAC PURCHASE INTENT: 100 TROPICHOP BOWL UNIQUENESS: 94
02 Chicken tenders dipped in honey-butter biscuit batter, fried and served with honey- butter dipping sauce. Comes with two sides and a biscuit for $5. CHURCH’S CHICKEN HONEY-BUTTER PURCHASE INTENT: 99 BISCUIT TENDERS UNIQUENESS: 68
03 Our new Hot Honey flavor, which adds lip-smacking hot honey to our crispy, juicy chicken and comes with pickles. The result is a delicious collision of savory KFC and sweet! HOT HONEY EXTRA PURCHASE INTENT: 81 CRISPY CHICKEN UNIQUENESS: 40
04 Chicken breast that’s partially cut into pull-apart strips are slow marinated in a blend of Louisiana seasonings, then hand- battered in a crispy southern breading and deep-fried.
POPEYE’S PURCHASE INTENT: 97 RIP’N CHICK’N UNIQUENESS: 57 LSR CHICKEN
NET PROMOTER CONSUMER PERCEPTION
Chick-fil-A customers are most likely to recommend the chain to friends and family.
NET Q: How likely are you to recommend this PROMOTER % % restaurant to your family and friends? SCORE PROMOTERS DETRACTORS
CHICK-FIL-A +48 62% 13%
BOSTON MARKET +30 49% 19%
ZAXBY'S +29 50% 20%
WINGSTOP +27 48% 21%
POLLO TROPICAL +24 47% 23%
POPEYE'S +21 45% 24%
CHURCH'S +14 42% 28%
BOJANGLES' +12 40% 28%
KFC +4 37% 33%
FIREFLY 500 REPORT 11 FOOD QUALITY
Zaxby’s chicken-centric menu runs the gamut from wings and fingers to “zalads” and sandwiches, including popular limited- time offers like the Zaxville Hot and the Honey Butter & Bacon Sandwiches.
SERVICE
While Chick-fil-A leads its sector in all Brand Fingerprints categories, its biggest lead is in the realm of service. In 2019, the chain also took the No. 1 spot in the American Customer Satisfaction Index for the fourth year in a row.
AMBIENCE
Chick-fil-A’s upscale-QSR décor is rated as “best in class” or “above average” by more than half of consumers, leading that Brand Fingerprints category over fast- casual competitors like Zaxby’s, Boston Market, and Wingstop.
12 To purchase or learn more, please contact Brian Darr at: 312-655-0594 [email protected]