I’m doing a deep dive into a new industry and decded to look at few fast-food and casual dining franchises including McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Domino’s, Chick-fil-A, Chipotle, Texas Roadhouse, and Starbucks.
What surprised me is how many of them show revenue stagnation over the last 5 years. Chick-fil-A and Texas Roadhouse are clear exceptions, but most of the others are very stagnant.
Some reasons from top of my head:
* Inflation pushed menu prices up so much that fast food is no longer “cheap” as it used to be
* People are paying more attention to health
* During COVID, many people started cooking at home, and some of that habit is still present
* Gen Z consumes food differently than millennials and older generations (for example, the idea of going on a date to McDonald’s has basically disappeared)
* Market is so saturated that there is little room to grow
What do you think? Am I missing something or?