Unit growth was modest, with the net addition of 73 new restaurants, down from 290 net new units in 2009. “The industry is continuing to grow. But, looking at a breakdown within the Top 200 chains, we see just less than half had positive growth, while 86 of the Top 200 chains experienced declining sales,” said Darren Tristano, Technomic EVP. “The key for operators is to understand where that growth is occurring and implement lessons learned throughout the industry into their own business models.”
Of the Top 200 chains, 91 experienced growth in 2010 with 17 chains growing at a rate greater than 20 per cent, 14 growing between 10 and 20 per cent and 60 chains growing by up to nine per cent; meanwhile, 23 chains had flat sales.
The annual Top 200 report accounts for more than $25 billion in industry sales and nearly 60 per cent of the Canadian commercial restaurant market.
