This is part of the Nation’s Restaurant News annual Top 100 report, a proprietary ranking of the foodservice industry’s largest restaurant chains and parent companies.
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Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers moved from No. 97 to No. 92 in the Top 100, with sales rising 21.4 percent in the Latest Year, making it the fourth fastest-growing chain in terms of sales. Raising Cane’s opened a net 40 locations, ending the Latest Year with 251 units, giving it the second-fastest growth rate by unit count.
Baton Rouge, La.-based Raising Cane’s sells chicken tenders, fries, coleslaw, Texas toast and not much else. The chain has maintained steady growth not by creating menu news, but by doing what it does well. That includes making coleslaw, chicken batter and signature Cane’s sauce in-house, while making sure restaurants are clean and customers are getting great service.
Like many other rapidly growing chains, Raising Cane’s has a robust community involvement strategy. It focuses on five areas: education, feeding the hungry, pet welfare (the chain’s mascot is a yellow Labrador), active lifestyles and business development/entrepreneurship.
“Active community involvement is not only part of our vision, but also a part of our DNA, because we owe all of our success to our communities that support us,” Raising Cane’s website states.
“We work hard to be involved in as many philanthropic and community groups, programs, events and facilities as we can, from a gift card for a door prize at a philanthropic event to building a dog park.”
Keys to growth:
Streamlined menu. Raising Cane’s only has about 100 SKUs, including plates and cups, leaving operators free to focus on executing what they do as close to perfectly as possible.
Community involvement. Education, entrepreneurship, hunger relief, active lifestyles and pet welfare are cornerstones of Raising Cane’s community outreach, which is an important part of the chain’s image.
Strong segment. Chicken segment market share among the Top 100 chains rose 4.7 percent in the Latest Year, making it the second fastest-growing segment, after Beverage-Snack.
Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected]
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