Food Service Opportunities
Source: Michael J. McDermott - " Foodservice Opportunities: A Franchise Feast"
If there is a single industry more closely identified with the concept of franchising than any other, it must surely be foodservice. Restaurants and other eateries, especially those of the fast-food variety, have always played a major role in franchising. Known in industry jargon as quick-service restaurants (QSR), these outlets have achieved global recognition thanks to the ubiquity of brands such as McDonalds, Burger King and Subway Sandwiches.
Fast-food outlets have achieve global recognition from the ubiquity of franchise brands.
Franchising is a dominant force in the foodservice sector, and its leadership status there is unlikely to change. In the QSR segment of foodservice, for example, franchised establishments account for more than 56% of all quick-service eating places in the United States, according to "Economic Impact of Franchised Businesses," a comprehensive study prepared for the International Franchise Association (IFA) Educational Foundation by PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
The top 10 QSR brands are all franchises, starting with No. 1 McDonalds, which had more than $27 billion in 2006 sales, and ranging down to No. 10 Sonic Drive-In, with more than $3 billion in revenues in 2006.
Franchise systems account for more than 80% of U.S. jobs and payroll in the QSR segment, along with total economic output approaching $120 billion a year. Franchising plays a smaller role in the full-service restaurant segment, accounting for about 23% of jobs and payroll and just over 13% of total establishments. Even so, it generates more than $37 billion of economic impact there.
While there seems to be little doubt about franchising’s ...