---
title: "Fast-casual franchises get a leg up over the rest of the industry"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/34bdf9e2-e41c-46ea-93c7-fbb236112e9d
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/fast-casual-franchises-get-a-leg-up-over-the-rest-of-the-industry-1614
category: "Fast casual"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Fast casual"
published: 2015-05-12T13:08:00.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T13:41:04.660Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/8d777f385d3dfec8815d20f7496026dc189.png
---

# Fast-casual franchises get a leg up over the rest of the industry

**TL;DR:** Fast-casual franchises saw a collective annual increase in sales of 12.8 percent in 2014, reaching $30 billion. The fast-casual segment is expected to continue driving sales growth in the restaurant industry due to its winning formula of high-quality menu items and high-touch service.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2015-05-12. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/fast-casual-franchises-get-a-leg-up-over-the-rest-of-the-industry-1614).*

## Story

According to Technomic’s most recent Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report, the fast-casual segment saw a collective annual increase in sales of 12.8 percent, reaching $30 billion during 2014. If that weren’t impressive enough, it marks nearly twice as much growth as the next-largest increase from all other restaurant segments, according to FastCasual.com.

"Whether they offer the customization of a build-your-own format or just their made-to-order signature dishes, fast-casual chains clearly hit the sweet spot with consumers," Darren Tristano, executive vice president of Technomic, said in a statement. "The winning formula of high-quality menu items in upscale settings, with high-touch service at prices between fast food and casual dining, can be applied to any kind of food and is powering growth in segments from burgers and barbecue to sushi and pizza. We'll continue to see fast casual drive much of the sales growth in the restaurant industry for years to come."

This comes at a time when industry observers are spotlighting how fast-casual franchises are also beating out quick-service competitors when it comes to speed and convenience.

“Even if you can get a customer through your drive thru in 180 seconds, a fast-casual operator can serve their customer a made-to-order personalized meal in even less time by letting his guest order and pay ahead so that the food can be prepared while the guest is traveling to the restaurant to collect his order,” stated Olo founder and CEO Noah Glass in an article for QSR. “The customer can park, walk in to the restaurant, skip the line at a dedicated pickup counter, walk back out of the restaurant, and drive off, all in under 180 seconds.”

Combining higher-quality food and customization with speed and simplicity? No wonder fast-casual concepts are dominating the industry.

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- restaurant industry (topic)
- fast casual (topic)
- FastCasual (publication)
- sales growth (topic)
- Technomic (company)
- Olo (company)
- customization (topic)
- Noah Glass (person)
- speed and convenience (topic)

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Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/fast-casual-franchises-get-a-leg-up-over-the-rest-of-the-industry-1614). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/34bdf9e2-e41c-46ea-93c7-fbb236112e9d).