Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue I, 2013 | Page 16

Franchised Food Industry Stats
By FRANdata

A

s of 2012, there were about 1,300 franchised
food brands operating in the U.S.; roughly
two thirds started offering franchises in
2000 or later.

In 2011, these food brands operated an estimated 176,700
franchised locations. The largest industry by number of
franchised units is QSR, which accounted for 72% of franchised units in 2011, followed by baked goods (9%) and
retail food (8%).

To estimate the growth rates in franchised food units,
FRANdata created a sample of 488 brands for which consecutive data for 2004 through 2011 was available. In 2011,
the sample operated 163,054 franchised locations, about
92% of the estimated total. From 2004 through 2011,
the number of franchised food locations in this sample

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Multi-Unit Franchisee Is s ue I, 2013

increased at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of
5%. Before the recession, from 2004 through 2006, franchised food units increased at a CAGR of 10%. CAGR in
this segment slowed to 4% from 2007 through 2009, and
to 3% from 2009 through 2011.

From 2004 through 2011, brands in retail food grew the
fastest, at a CAGR of 9%, followed by baked goods and
sit-down restaurants, both at 8%. Interestingly, frozen
dessert picked up growth again in 2011 after stagnating
during the recession more than the other industries. This
was driven by frozen yogurt concepts such as Menchie’s
and Yogen Früz, which increased at a CAGR of 180%
and 125%, respectively, from 2008
through 2011. In
fact, when breaking
up the 2004 through
2011 period into
three chunks (2004–
2006, 2007–2009,
and 2009–2011),
frozen dessert was
the only food industry that managed a
higher CAGR over
the third phase [