News

Fast food sales up in December

January 15, 2020

The data analysts at NPD Group said today that fast food chains had four straight weeks of transaction increases for the retail period of Dec. 1 through Jan. 5. In fact, QSRs were the main contributor to total restaurant sector gains for December, the company said in an email. 

That was not the case for higher service categories, including casual dining brands which recorded drops in transaction totals beginning in the second week of the period and lasting throughout. Midscale and family dining chains dropped in the last week of the period, but finished the month flat, NPD said. 

NPD used its so-called Crest Performance Alerts to glean the findings. Those give a quick view of chain-specific transactions and share trends for 73 chains, but no independent brands in service categories from QSR to casual. 

Total restaurant industry transactions were up 3% for the period, driven by a 3% gain in quick-service transactions, while casual dining transactions dropped 2% and midscale/family dining transactions fluctuated from dropping 2% one week and posting a 3% gain another, for a net effect of flat sales in that category.