Here's a look at the unit count for chain restaurants as well as updates on ingredient pricing according to new industry insights released by Technomic.
Chain Restaurant Counts
According to a recent report from Technomic, independent restaurants make up 63% of all restaurant locations in the U.S., though this distribution varies significantly by region.
Northeast
The Northeast shows the strongest independent restaurant presence, accounting for 73% of all dining establishments, while chain restaurants make up just 27% of locations in this region.
South
The South presents a different landscape, boasting the highest concentration of chain restaurants in the country. Chains comprise over half of all restaurant locations in this region, with Subway, McDonald’s, and Starbucks leading in total store count.
Tracking Ingredient Pricing
Technomic Ignite Menu recently launched a new impact on price feature that shows how specific ingredients, flavors, or preparation methods affect prices of dishes. Here's a look at a few items.
Ingredient: Avocado
Specialty fish dishes are those most impacted by the addition of avocado, with an average increase of $8.44. Other dishes that see a price bump due to avocado include Cobb salad entrees (+$1.72), BLT sandwiches (+$2.28) and
salmon/sake rolls (+$3.39).
Flavor: Spicy
Specialty tacos are the dish that increases the most in price with the addition of spicy flavor, with an average uptick of $13.64. Other dishes that spicy flavors boost the price of include pepperoni pizza (+$2.96) and chicken/cheese/beef nachos appetizer (+$2.39).
Preparation: Grilled
Some of the dishes that saw the steepest price adds due to the addition of grilled preparations include specialty fish
dishes (+$15.38) and veal entrees (+$13.05).
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