News

Canadian restaurant sales jump 4.3 percent

September 26, 2013

The Top 200 Canadian restaurant chains accounted for $27.8 billion in sales in 2012, comprising about 60 percent of Canada's total restaurant sales, according to Technomic's "Top 200 Canadian Chain Restaurant Report."

The top 200 chains experienced sales growth of 4.3 percent in 2012, according to Technomic. Additionally, unit growth jumped 2.5 percent to total 25,070 stores.

The Technomic report found limited-service chains accounted for 73.8 percent or $20.5 billion of total Top 200 sales and 85.8 percent or 21,509 units.

Sales increased 4.9 percent from the prior year and units increased 2.6 percent. The fastest growing limited-service categories were Asian, other beverages and coffee café — up 10.1 percent, 7.6 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively.

Full-service chains saw sales grow 2.5 percent to a total of $7.3 billion in 2012. Overall, full-service chains experienced unit growth of 1.6 percent for a total of 3,561. The full-service segment made up 26.2 percent of sales and 14.2 percent of Top 200 units.

"We continue to see solid growth within the foodservice industry," Darren Tristano, EVP of Technomic, said. "Organizations are adapting to consumer needs. We're seeing the Canadian foodservice landscape grow as ethnic influences and international competitors look to leave their mark."

Developed in partnership with Kostuch Media, select report findings include:

• Tim Hortons firmly maintained its top spot with Canadian sales of $5.9 billion in 2012, up 6.2 percent from 2011. McDonald's ($3.8 billion) and Subway ($1.6 billion) were again positioned at numbers two and three.
• The largest limited-service categories in terms of total 2012 sales were coffee café ($7.6 billion), burger ($6.1 billion) and other sandwich ($2.2 billion). The top performers in these categories were Tim Hortons, McDonald's and Subway.
• The largest menu categories among full-service chains in terms of sales were varied menu ($4 billion), family style ($1.5 billion) and steak ($584.4 million). Top performers among these full-service categories are Boston Pizza (varied menu), Swiss Chalet (family style), and The Keg Steakhouse and Bar (steak).

Read more about restaurant trends and statistics.