Today’s Focus is on Fast Food.

Fast food is a type of mass-produced food that is prepared and served quickly. It’s usually made with preheated or precooked ingredients, prepared in bulk, and sold in packages for take-away. It’s designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheated or precooked ingredients and served in packaging for take-out/takeaway.

Fast food is popular because it’s inexpensive, convenient, and tastes good. It can come from many places, including Sit-down restaurants, Counter service, Take-out, Drive-thru, Delivery.

Examples of fast food include:

• Hamburgers, Pizza, Fried chicken.

Fast food is often equated with junk food, although fast food cannot be categorically described as junk food. Fast food tends to be high in:

Salt, Sugar, Saturated fats, Trans fats, Calories, Processed preservatives, and ingredients.

Research has proven the negative health effects of consuming too much of these food components.

 

History

The fast-food industry began in the United States in 1921 with the opening of the first White Castle restaurant in Wichita, Kansas. The restaurant was founded by Walter Anderson, a short-order cook, and Edgar W. “Billy” Ingram, a former reporter. White Castle sold hamburgers for five cents each.

The fast-food industry grew after World War II. The American economic boom led to increased spending and consumerism. The highway system built in the 1950s and 1960s also contributed to the growth of the fast-food industry.

Other fast-food chains include:

• McDonald’s: Founded in 1940 by Richard and Maurice McDonald in San Bernardino, California. The first franchise opened in Phoenix, Arizona in 1953.
• KFC: Founded in the United States

 

The first drive-thru restaurant was Red’s Giant Hamburg in Springfield, Missouri, which opened in 1947.  In-N-Out Burger opened the first drive-thru in California in 1948. Jack in the Box was the first drive-thru-focused chain, opening in 1951 in San Diego. Wendy’s introduced the first modern drive-thru, which Dave Thomas called the “Pick-Up Window”. McDonald’s opened its first drive-thru in the U.S. in 1975. Larger chains, including McDonald’s, were slow to adopt the drive-thru business model.

The fast-food industry took off in the 1950s. The highway system built in the 1950s and 1960s contributed to the growth of the fast-food industry. The first McDonald’s franchise opened in Phoenix, Arizona in 1953. Fast food chains revolutionized the restaurant industry and changed farming and food distribution businesses.

Here are some fun facts about fast food:

• In 1970, Americans spent about $6 billion on fast food.
• A fast-food meal is worth 37% of your daily calorie intake.
• A double quarter pounder meal with a coke contains nearly 1800 calories.
• The first Big Mac sold for 45 cents and was named by a 21-year-old secretary.
• In-N-Out’s “animal style” burger was officially created as a response to customer requests.
• McDonald’s is the world’s largest toy distributor.
• There are almost 38 million Subway combos to choose from.
• KFC is the traditional Christmas Eve dinner in Japan.
• Domino’s once offered free sandwiches to Jareds of the world.
• Colonel Sanders opened another restaurant after KFC.
• Cinnabon bakes empty cookie sheets to entice customers.
• KFC’s secret recipe is super top secret.
• Wendy’s founder has an important cause: adoption.
• Taco Bell is American food in Mexico.

 

McDonald’s is the most popular fast-food chain in the United States. It has the most locations, the highest sales, and the highest brand value:

• Locations: McDonald’s has 13,500 locations in the U.S. and 40,000 worldwide.
• Sales: McDonald’s has consistently recorded more than $35 billion in sales across all of its franchises for the past five years. Last year, it had $46 billion in systemwide sales.
• Brand value: McDonald’s was the most valuable fast-food brand in the world in 2022, with an estimated brand value of about 196.5 billion U.S. dollars.

Other popular fast-food chains include:

• Subway, Starbucks, KFC, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Domino’s Pizza, Dunkin.

 

Here are some healthy fast-food options:

• Panera Bread: Strawberry Poppyseed Salad with Chicken, Napa Almond Chicken Salad on Country Rustic Sourdough
• Subway: 6-inch Veggie Delite Sandwich
• Burger King: Impossible Whopper
• Taco Bell: Soft Taco Supreme
• Chipotle: Lifestyle Bowl
• Chick-fil-A: Grilled Chicken Sandwich
• Arby’s: Roast Chicken Entrée Salad
• Dunkin’: Veggie Egg White Omelet
• Wendy’s: Sour Cream and Chive Baked Potato

Some other fast-food restaurants with healthy options include:

• Sweetgreen
• CAVA
• Noodles & Company

When choosing healthy fast food, you can look for:

• Lean proteins like grilled chicken or turkey
• Whole wheat or whole grain bread or rice
• Vegetables
• One fat source, like cheese, avocado, sour cream, or cream cheese

 

Consumption

The global fast-food market was valued at $595.93 billion in 2021. It’s expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.0% from 2022 to 2029. The market is expected to grow from $972.74 billion in 2021 to $1,467.04 billion by 2028.

The market is expected to grow due to:

• Increased consumer spending
• The growing influence of food delivery applications

The market size of the quick service restaurant (QSR) industry in the United States was $322.05 billion in 2021. In 2022, the market size was forecast to reach $331.41 billion.

 

Celebrating Fast Food

National Fast-Food Day is celebrated on November 16th. Fast food companies often offer deals and free food on this day. There are over 300,000 fast food restaurants in the United States.  Let us know in the comments which one is your favorite.