QSR Magazine - The QSR 50 - August 2002 - 15

AMERICA’S HOTTEST CHAINS | QUICK CASUAL T HE The Hot Zone BIGGEST DEVELOPMENT TO HIT THE At this moment in quick-service, it’s quick-casual that’s all the rage. TOP QUICK-CASUAL CHAINS BY SYSTEMWIDE SALES ESTIMATED 2000 SYSTEMWIDE SALES (MIL) CHANGE IN SYSTEMWIDE SALES 2001 SALES PER UNIT (000s) quick-service industry recently is ESTIMATED 2001 the emergence of the quick-casuSYSTEMWIDE CHAIN SALES (MIL) al segment. Chains that fit this description have been around for 1 Panera Bread/St. Louis Bread Co. $529.4 a while—the subject of this month’s 2 Fazoli’s $404.7 QSR Interview, quick-casual pioneer la 3 Au Bon Pain $215.0 Madeleine, opened its first location 4 Chipotle $185.9 about twenty years ago—but it’s only been in the past few years that a clear 5 Baja Fresh Mexican Grill $172.0 movement has been recognized. 6 la Madeleine $125.2 In some ways, the emergence of 7 Rubio’s $113.4 quick-casual is reminiscent of the 8 Koo Koo Roo $46.8 microbrew surge in the beer industry. The original claim to fame of microbrews was, essentially, a more flavorful product. It might cost a bit more, but it’s worth it to a segment of consumers. This is what’s happening with quickcasual. As la Mad chief executive Wallace Doolin points out, the segment is situated between traditional quick-service and casual dining, with the expectation among consumers that quickcasual will cost a little more than fast food and won’t be quite as fast, but the food will be of better quality. Quick-casual chains typically build their brands on ultra-fresh, high-quality ingredients and made-to-order preparation, both notions that appeal to today’s consumer, and in larger numbers than is the case for microbrews. Despite recent economic troubles, consumers have money to spend on food, and the more they have to spend, the more they’re willing to spend it 2001 sales of almost $186 million, but Baja for better quality. That’s the promise of Fresh Mexican Grill is the king of growth, quick-casual. with an increase in systemwide sales of over While that’s a promise that some more tra- 60 percent from 2000. ditional quick-serves also make, perhaps it’s evidenced nowhere else more clearly than in THE PIONEERS IN THE MICROBREW MARKET, AS BIG AS the Next-Mex quick-casual segment, where, they might have gotten, never amounted to say, upscaled burrito fillings like grilled beef, more than a drop in the proverbial bucket of black beans, mole, and the like are the norm. overall beer sales, and yet the demand for the Chipotle is the leader in the category with product was there. In time, the mega-brew- $350.8 $378.4 $211.0 N/A $107.0 $121.4 $95.7 $54.9 50.9% 7.0% 1.9% N/A 60.7% 3.1% 18.5% -14.8% $1,748.0 $1,044.0 $1,100.0 $1,050.0 $1,550.0 $1,900.0 $875.0 $1,300.0 QUICK CASUAL eries like Anheuser-Busch, Miller, and Coors all recognized this and did one (or both) of two things: rolled out their own “microbrews,” as in the case of Coors’ Blue Moon label, or bought stakes in existing microbreweries that already had a following among consumers, as in Miller’s acquisition of Pete’s Brewing Co. That’s how quick-casual is developing, too. McDonald’s has partnered with Italian 54 AUGUST 2002 QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com

QSR Magazine - The QSR 50 - August 2002

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