This story is part of NRN’s Top 100 special report, a proprietary census ranking the foodservice industry’s largest restaurant chains and companies by sales and unit data, among other metrics. The full report is available only to Nation’s Restaurant News magazine subscribers, and is part of the June 25 issue. Subscribe here.
By U.S. systemwide sales, including both company-owned sales and franchised-unit sales, it’s no surprise that McDonald’s leads the rankings, followed by Subway and Starbucks Coffee. All three chains dominate the domestic landscape and have weathered the recession better than most. The largest corporate owners, based on U.S. foodservice revenue, including company-owned restaurant sales and franchise royalty fees, Compass Group Plc., Darden Restaurants Inc. and Starbucks Corp. hold the largest corporate coffers.
Meet the top 10 chains and companies, exclusively from Nation’s Restaurant News Top 100. Chain data is based on U.S. systemwide sales, and Company data is based on U.S. corporate revenue. Both lists cover fiscal years ended closest to December 2011.
Top 10 Largest Chains (by latest-year sales)
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1. McDonald's - $34.17B |
6. Taco Bell - $7.00B |
Top 10 Largest Companies (by latest-year revenue)
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1. Compass Group PLC - $8.86B |
6. McDonald's Corp. - $5.63B |
