Technomic study: Fast-casual boom continues

The 500 largest U.S. restaurant chains accelerated their cumulative sales growth in 2015 to a 4.9% increase, totaling an estimated $288 billion, according to data released by Chicago-based Technomic Inc. in an advance brief of its annual report on the largest U.S. restaurant companies. While four of the top five chains in the ranking improved their performance from the prior year, the fast-casual segment continued to lead the pack with 11.4% sales growth, almost doubling the growth rate of any other dining segment.

In fact, the 4.9% sales growth seen by the Top 500 in 2015 beat out 2014's mark of 4.2%, the study says. Diving deeper into the improved sales growth observed in 2015, limited service chains grew their cumulative sales 5.5%, outpacing their full service counterparts who registered 3.4% growth. The “Top 500 Advanced Chain Restaurant Report” also found that the industry's 500 biggest brands grew their overall unit count 2.1% in 2015 to more than 223,000 locations.