US Top 400: 45x Billion-Plus Sales

 
It is very probably the world's oldest restaurant-chain ranking. Since 1965, the Ameri can Restaurants & Institutions (R&I) trade magazine has been researching the Top 400 of the US foodservice industry and their global sales. The latest list is once more a demonstration of concentrated market power. In 2008, the leaders of the pack rang up worldwide system sales of US$312.5 bn. This represents an increase of 7%, generated by more than 275,000 units.
 
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The ranking tells many stories, not just that McDonald's remains omnipotent with sales revenues of more than US$57 bn and reported growth of 11% (9% in constant currencies) from nearly 32,000 units (+1.9%). In other words, the average McDonald's restaurant generates US$2.5 m a year - almost twice as much as the average Burger King store. The gap between McDonald's and the next five world brands - KFC, Burger King, Starbucks, Subway and Pizza Hut - remains enormous and the dominance of the world-market leader is shown beyond doubt by the following facts: McDonald's accounts for nearly one quarter of the total sales among the Top 400 chains. 2008 was another strong year for the market leader, comparable sales and guest counts were positive across all segments for every quarter. In Europe, system sales increased by 15% reported (10% in constant currencies).
 
Top 400: There are no figures on the ratio of US to international sales. Nevertheless, it is evident that growth abroad is significantly stronger than in the homeland. At the same time, however, the overwhelming majority of the Top 400 chains are only to be found in North America. As a direct neighbour, Canada is a halfway house. Many US concepts are tested there before being launched onto the world market.
 
The restaurants in R&I's 45th annual ranking of the Top 400 chain brands had combined system-wide sales of roughly US$312.2 bn, up 7% from the previous year's aggregate. It's pretty impressive, particularly in a year marked by declining consumer traffic and soaring food costs. Exactly 45 of the 400 names can point to total annual sales of US$1 bn or more. And there are lots of brands, such as Olive Garden, Red Lobster and Panera Bread, that operate solely in the USA. Yes, more people eat away from home in North America than in the most highly-developed European nations. Certain segments of the market, such as coffee bars and Asian food, are gaining ground rapidly and attracting considerable attention. However, it is the classic disciplines that are registering XXL sales. Thus, the burger boys alone account for more than one third of the Top 400 system sales from somewhat less than a quarter of all outlets. By the way, Number 400 in the list is ‘The Spaghetti Warehouse' with estimated annual revenues of US$42 m from 20 units.
 
Interesting to know: when the Top 400 ranking was launched in 1965, the US Army was the number 1 foodservice organisation with a volume of US$471.1 m. McDonald's was in its 10th year and went public with an initial stock quote of US$22.50 per share. It was not until 1973 that the fast food giant bumped the Army from the number 1 spot with sales of US$1.16 bn from 2,272 units. No one has endangered Ronald McDonald since then.