Call them Fast Casual, Fast Fine or Counter Service restos. They’re all the same at the motivational level. They’re fast, easy, convenient and, usually, sinfully delicious. And a cut above ‘Fast Food’. Pollsters say ‘burnout’ now drives the decision to take out…
The top three ‘Fast Casual’ chains…
Where are the folks who still have enough cash to afford resto dining putting their bucks? Not at sit-down establishments. But they’re not noshing at McDonald’s or Burger King, either. They’ve settled at a level between those two widely separated dining-out strata. It’s called ‘Fast Casual’…
Who’s included?
Morning Consult (MC) has identified a select group of popular chains as making up the Fast Casual sector. And ranked them in order of their popularity with the upscale take-out / order-in dining crowd…
Panera Bread just edges out Panda Express at the top end of the market share continuum, in a cluster at the 11 to 14 percent level. With Chipotle coming a slightly more distant third.
Then there’s a definite void, before the middle-range players show up. Followed by the largest group nearest the bottom of the chart.
Some anomalies?
I wondered immediately why chains such as Shake Shack, Jimmy John’s, Jersey Mike’s and Wingstop were included in the Fast Casual list at all. I’ve always considered them fast Food to the core. But Morning Consult has its own standards for food, service and price. Who are we to question pollsters who charge as much as they do to gather intelligence for major corporations?
Nevertheless…
The major finding of the MC survey was that diners’ motivation for choosing Fast Casual has changed in the past few years. It used to be the same factors as motivated folks with lesser incomes to choose Burgers, Subs and Fried Chicken: speed, convenience and price. But the folks who still patronize the Fast Casual sector have shifted from those motivators to something a little different.
“Fast Casual isn’t chosen for adventure,” MC found… “It’s chosen for relief. The top triggers are pre-dictable, high-frequency life moments:
- ‘Too tired to cook at home’ (~40 percent) — the single largest entry point. ‘Dinner fatigue’ is the category’s front door.
- ‘Affordable yet filling meal’ (~35 percent) — value isn’t just price; it’s the promise of satisfaction without overspending.
- ‘Picking up dinner on the way home’ (~33 percent) — commute convenience remains a cornerstone.”
My take
I have trouble sympathizing with folks who can still afford meals prepared for them by someone else. I – and millions of other North Americans – have cut back sharply on spending, even at basic Fast Food joints such as McDonald’s and Burger King. My food dollars just don’t go far enough there any-more to make them a regular thing.
The real issue revealed in the MC survey is that more folks who have been dining out at higher luxury levels are now slipping into the middle tier. I wonder how long it will take before they slide all the way to the bottom? If the economy – and food prices in particular – don’t turn around soon, I won’t be there to find out. I’ll have dropped off the take-out chart altogether.
But that will mean I’m cooking my own meals full-time, again. Using fresh ingredients I choose my-self. And maybe even cherry tomatoes, herbs and other stuff I grow in my own, tiny backyard. Come to think of it… That sounds pretty good, actually!
~ Maggie J.