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NPD: Burgers still America's favorite sandwich, chicken gaining ground

May 15, 2019

Burgers have been a top item ordered at U.S. restaurants for decades, but chicken sandwiches have come on strong over the last several years, according to The NPD Group receipt-harvesting service, Checkout, which tracks the same buyers' purchasing behaviors over time. It found that although chicken sandwiches were still behind burgers in the sandwich pecking order, they were gaining ground. Over the 12 months ending February 2019, chicken sandwich orders were up 4% at 4 billion serving, but burger orders were flat at 8.6 billion ordered.

By the numbers, the average number of times a customer purchased a burger at a restaurant over the same period was 14.7 times, and the customer purchase frequency of chicken sandwiches was 8.7. Burgers also have the upper hand when it comes to menu importance or the percentage of all restaurant orders that include one. Burgers were included in 14.1% of all restaurant orders and chicken sandwiches were included in 6.5% of orders. 

"Both burgers and chicken sandwiches are winners for foodservice and restaurant operators," David Portalatin, NPD food industry advisor and author of Eating Patterns in America, said in a company press release. "Both are popular with consumers and both can be dressed up with different flavors and fixings to meet a variety of different tastes."