WASHINGTON- America may be obsessed with healthy eating, but one market trend suggests otherwise. The restaurants with the fastest growing customer bases are Five Guys Holdings LLC, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., Jimmy John’s Franchise LLC, Buffalo Wild Wings Inc., and Little Caesar Enterprise Inc, according to new research by the private firm NPD Group.
The list of top 10 growing restaurants was derived from NPD’s ongoing data collection of in-home and away-home eating habits.
Growth was determined on a year-over-year percent change in customers for restaurants with more than 300 visits. NPD Group Vice President Harry Balzer acknowledged that a list of restaurants with the greatest number of customers would look different but added that the businesses with the greatest percent change in customers are what the industry looks to for direction in the market.
Competitors are asking, “What do these guys got? What are they providing that I should be thinking of doing at my restaurants?” Balzer said.
The four publicly traded companies on the list have shown tremendous market growth. Chipotle (No. 2 on the list) traded at $225.09 this time last year, and now hovers under $330. Buffalo Wild Wings (No. 4) rose from $47.59 in November 2010 to $64.
Eighth on the list, Panera Bread Co., grew from $93.35 in November 2010 to over $135 in November 2011. Likewise, Starbucks (No. 10) has risen to $44 from $30 in one year.
Here’s the complete list of the 10 fastest growing restaurants, according to NPD Group:
1. Five Guys Holdings, LLC
2. Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc
3. Jimmy John’s Franchise, LLC
4. Buffalo Wild Wings Inc
5. Little Caesar Enterprise Inc
6. Qdoba Mexican Grill
7. Panda Restaurant Group, Inc
8. Panera Bread Co.
9. Papa Murphy’s International LLC
10. Starbucks Corporation