Article
Have QSRs blurred the line with fast casual eateries?
As fast food brands fight to compete with the perceived higher-quality of fast casual eateries, which differentiators matter? Part I.
November 8, 2009
* Juan Martinez is principal of Profitality, a restaurant consulting firm that focuses on designing profitable hospitality venues
It occurs to me that "fast casual" used to be a purer category to define not long ago. The old paradigm of fast casual included higher product quality, more in-restaurant product prep from scratch, higher menu pricing, focus on inside service, no drive-thru, more upscale decor, and more visibility into the production system compared to a quick-service concept. Oh, how things have changed.
As QSRs have improved their model, that definition is now blurred, evolving the qualifiers dramatically in both reality and perception.
Step back and ponder what makes a fast casual concept: Is it menu offering and product quality? Debatable. Is it service system? Maybe. Is it the production system? Only arguably. Is it the facility -- décor, size and facility design? Perhaps. ...
While the answers to these questions may help uncover the real mystery, the reality is that for each of these queries, one can find concepts that are currently not filed as fast casual but can still fit into some of the category's definitions.
Let's start with menu offering and product quality. A typical fast casual concept features higher-quality components, built-to-order products and more healthy menu offerings. Well, most pure QSR concepts now build to order and are using higher-level components. They advertise these components, too.
One QSR fitting this parameter is Captain D's. Its menu evolved from only fried seafood and sides to include broiled offerings and sides like broccoli, rice and baked potatoes. A good portion of items are even cooked to order, producing a concept that is more like casual dining than QSR or fast casual. There is most definitely some truth to the Captain D's commercials that made self-comparisons to Red Lobster.
When you cook to order, as fast-casual concepts do for many items, products end up fresher and of higher quality. With that in mind, how do you categorize Five Guys and In-n-Out, as well as many of the other chains that have sprung up in this category? Are they a cross between a Johnny Rockets-type establishment and a FFHR (Fast Food Hamburger Restaurant)? The menu is very limited and the food is cooked to order, but the cooking processes are very similar to other FFHR concepts. And the environment looks like a Johnny Rockets: No table service; you get called to pick up your food.
So is it menu? Debatable.
How about the service system? In a typical fast casual concept, customers join a line to order and pre-pay, like with QSRs, but get their food delivered to the table or get called to pick up the food. The service time is typically longer than for QSRs.
It used to be that having a drive-thru excluded a concept from being fast casual. But that topic has been heatedly debated in recent months. Some fast casuals, like Panera Bread and Quizno's, have found how well these expediters work. Culver's, typically classified as a QSR, would argue that they are fast casual with a drive-thru. The reality is that the system they've designed is more of a park-through concept, but I bet the customers give them credit for a drive-thru. At the end of the day, perception is reality, isn't it?
The inside service systems that customers encounter in many fast casual concepts is similar to QSRs', with many fast casuals offering pick-up at a separate counter. Those that offer food delivery to the table offer more of a casual dine-in type service. QSRs fitting this parameter include Whataburger, Hardee's and Carl's Jr.; several others feature delivery to the table as well.
But what about the fast casual concepts, including Panera Bread, that borrow from QSR and feature self-serve drinks, a concept that was made mainstream in the QSR hamburger category by Burger King during the early 1980s? Then it was revolutionary, but it is much more typical now. Although labor drove it originally, convenience is a big component now, since it provides customers control over what and how much they want to drink.
Where do you categorize hybrid concepts like Steak'n Shake, which offers table service excluding payment in the dining room, plus a drive-thru.? Is it fast casual, casual or maybe a new one — casual fast?
So is it the service system? Maybe.
Is it the production system? It used to be that QSRs pre-produced items and pulled them from a heat chute when the customer ordered it. Fast casual would pre-produce components and "assemble-to-order" when a customer ordered it. Casual dining would cook to order most of the components and assemble to order all the plates. This is not the case anymore, with most QSRs often assembling to order and even some cooking to order.
Case in point: From a functional production and service system perspective, what is the difference between the QSR Subway and the fast casual Chipotle? I would submit to you that there is none. You go through the line, tell the crew what you want and they assemble it as you see it and then you pay at the end. Subway even markets freshly baked breads and high quality food components. Stores are even beginning to step up the décor model, moving away from the plastic-looking booths.
So is it the production system? Only arguably.
The conclusion next time.
Juan Martinez, Ph.D., PE, is principal for Profitality, an industrial and operations engineering consulting firm. You can contact him atjuan@profitality.com.
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