The Fast Casual Industry is Growing—Fast

A decade of growth

There are over 2,700 Chipotles, 2,100 Panera Breads, and almost 2,800 Jimmy Johns in the United States as of this year. If you think those numbers are high, wait till you hear how many Starbucks restaurants there are—15,000, and counting!

Not too long ago, you had your choice of fast food chains, like McDonald’s, Wendy’s and KFC, serving cheap and ready-to-go food to fill your hunger needs. But fast food became monotonous, and with menus filled with burgers, fries, and sandwiches, the choice wasn’t really all yours.

As the early 2000’s rolled on, more companies were beginning to expand their small fast casual food businesses across the country. Popularity grew as customers not only realized they could get a freshly cooked meal on a budget, but also that they could choose between a number of different categories of food. Fast casual service has grown to serve many different options, from Mexican, to vegetarian, pizza, to breakfast sandwiches.

Nowadays, American’s love getting a variety of alternatives to the mundane McDouble, or Taco Bell’s Nacho Supreme. Avocado toast, plant-based meals, Asian eats, are a few fast casual foods taking the 2020’s by storm.

Location, location, location

The folks in the quick service business know a thing or two about where to place a restaurant to gain the most customers. Taking on the fast food approach, these restaurants have cropped up in every intersection, highway exit, small town, and big city.

Consumers don’t need to drive to get what they want anymore, and with the birth of food delivery apps like DoorDash and Grubhub, fast casual has taken off even more. It was estimated that the number of food delivery app users reached 111 million in 2020, that's almost half of the United States. The COVID-19 pandemic has only increased those numbers, as more people began to realize the convenience of delivery apps than ever before.

In a recent study done on fast casual restaurants, it was found that Orlando was home to the most fast casual restaurants per capita, with a whopping 42 restaurants for every 100,000 people. Behind the Florida city were Cincinnati, Atlanta, and Richmond.

But it isn't just big cities responsible for the fast casual craze. Just look in any small town, and you'll most likely see a few quick service options, probably right next to each other—And probably pretty busy.

Looking at 2021 and beyond

The advancement of smartphones in the last decade have done a number of good things for the fast casual industry. People are busy and the world has become more fast-paced, making quick service the way to go for many working Americans.

In addition, many businesses have built apps for loyal customers to order ahead, skip lines, and build points toward their future purchases. There are far fewer people waiting in lunch hour drive-thru lines or waiting to place in order inside, and more opportunity for restaurants to gain lifelong customers via smartphones.

When Panera Bread's sales hit a second quarter decline in sales back in 2014, the company looked on ways to improve its stores, and took quite a bit of inspiration from Chipotle.

This "Panera 2.0" included customer ordering kiosks to prevent large lines, and a smartphone app to allow customers to order in advance. By 2021, most quick service restaurants have adopted these modern techniques

There is no telling where fast casual service will go, but the rapidly growing industry is expected to reach $209.1 billion by 2027.

That means a lot more options, cheap, fresh—And fast.