In the December 2024 quarter, emerging fast food brands like Grill’d, Guzman Y Gomez (GyG), and Crust Pizza have made significant gains in customer frequency and average spend.
This contrasts with market leader McDonald’s, which experienced a 5% decline in customer visits and a 5.4% drop in average spend.
Fonto’s Moments in QSR data reveals that customers are increasingly opting for fresher alternatives when available.
Despite McDonald’s stable market share of nearly 42%, the decline in customer frequency and spend suggests a shift in consumer behaviour.
In contrast, Grill’d saw a 14.9% increase in purchase frequency and a 10.6% rise in average spend compared to the previous year.
Crust Pizza, though holding a smaller market share of 3%, increased purchase frequency by 10.5% and average spend by 7.3%.
GyG also demonstrated impressive growth, announcing a 27% revenue increase while lifting customer purchase frequency by 5% and average spend by almost 6%.
GyG’s market share grew from 3.0% to 4.2%, driven by new store openings meeting increased demand.
These brands have successfully attracted customers with their fresher and higher-quality offerings, despite a slight drop in average basket size for Crust and Grill’d.
Fonto CEO Ben Dixon highlighted that customers are embracing alternatives that promote fresher ingredients, even in the fast food space.
Dixon said: “Where Domino’s has recently faced challenges in product quality, Crust continues to bring customers back, spending more. Where consumers are looking for fresher, higher quality burger alternative, Grill’d is taking share and loyalty away from the larger chains. GyG’s overall brand promise as healthier fast food is also clearly working, with their sales and profit up across the board.”
Crust aims to open 12 new locations, while Grill’d opened 16 new locations in 2024, with future plans yet to be announced.
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