In this special keynote session from Fast Casual Global, host and pioneer of the fast casual segment, Paul Barron, explores how Consumer insights and brand connections will create the next phase of growth in food service.

Three Key Points:

Fast casual continues to expand and is now busting over 150 billion dollars in revenue in the U.S. alone, and Globally fast casual revenue is estimated at approximately half a trillion dollars.

Food away from restaurants is going to be the big factor, and will continue to scale. For comparison, we saw food away from restaurants in 2019 at 51%, those numbers are estimated to reach somewhere around 68 to 73% by 2026.

The dynamic shift in landscape has driven the fast casual space to create some new models such as piloting and drive thru restaurants. Several fast casual concepts have and will continue to shift into this space. The big challenge with new model concepts will be limitations in real estate and unit economics. Brands will need to be creative to stay competitive.

Tweetable Quotes:

"I think we will see continued menu innovation, mainly around the aspect of limiting the menu requirements so that you can diversify in the way that you're delivering the product versus on-premise and off-premise..” - Paul Barron

“If you take delivery and still keep technology in the hunt, there is a big opportunity here. It's going to be wide open space, I think for drone delivery companies and also some of these robotic delivery companies” - Paul Barron

"When you look at fast casual trends, the one thing that I want you to consider is the dynamic growth in ghost kitchens and virtual brands will be the next layer that we'll see in this space,” - Paul Barron

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