---
title: "QSR Magazine: A&W Ranks Fourth on Top 42 Emerging Fast-Food Brands to Watch in 2021"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/e61a677c-e06e-41c5-a2d7-39d34ecbeca0
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/qsr-magazine-aw-ranks-fourth-on-top-42-emerging-fast-food-brands-to-watch-in-2021-2716847
category: "Burger"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Burger"
topics: ["Emerging brands"]
published: 2021-10-11T16:11:00.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:13:22.959Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/911555d773bed5f00c1bd595435eb1a84805.jpg
---

# QSR Magazine: A&W Ranks Fourth on Top 42 Emerging Fast-Food Brands to Watch in 2021

**TL;DR:** A&W ranked fourth on QSR Magazine's Top 42 Emerging Fast-Food Brands to Watch in 2021 due to its resilience and success during the pandemic. The brand saw its ninth year of consecutive growth with a 9% increase in year-over-year sales in 2020.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2021-10-11. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/qsr-magazine-aw-ranks-fourth-on-top-42-emerging-fast-food-brands-to-watch-in-2021-2716847).*

## Story

QSR Magazine published a roundup of the Top 42 Emerging Fast Food Brands to Watch in 2021, in which A&W ranked fourth thanks to its resilience and success throughout the pandemic.

Established in 1919, A&W is a classic American brand with 500-plus locations across the country, including more than 300 standalone restaurants. In 2020, the brand saw its ninth year of consecutive growth with a 9% increase in year-over-year sales and wrapped up Q2 with 14 new restaurant agreements and another 20 in the pipeline.

“Our development team and our dedicated franchisees did a great job facing the challenges of the pandemic and seeing exceptional growth despite all of the uncertainty COVID-19 brought to the restaurant industry,” said Kevin Bazner, CEO of A&W. “We’ve seen tremendous growth over the past year alone because of our commitment to seeing our franchisees succeed.”

The 102-year-old brand, which is literally older than sliced bread, remains a one-of-a-kind true original and still handcrafts its signature A&W Root Beer in its restaurants.

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- QSR Magazine (publication)
- fast food (topic)
- emerging brands (topic)
- brand ranking (topic)
- pandemic resilience (topic)

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Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/qsr-magazine-aw-ranks-fourth-on-top-42-emerging-fast-food-brands-to-watch-in-2021-2716847). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/e61a677c-e06e-41c5-a2d7-39d34ecbeca0).