FINANCE
IN THE BURGER BUSINESS, CULVER’S AND SHAKE SHACK ARE GRABBING MARKET SHARE Sales among limited-service burger chains remained weak in 2025 amid consumer weakness and a shift to chicken or other items. But higher-quality growth chains are grabbing share and making noise.
PHOTO: JONATHAN MAZE
JONATHAN MAZE
JONATHAN.MAZE@INFORMA.COM
I t’s tough to be a burger chain these days. Beef costs are through the roof amid one of the most extensive value pushes the industry has ever seen. And everybody seems to want to eat more chick- en. Sales among limited-service burger chains grew just 2%, lower than menu price inflation. It’s also the second straight year of generally anemic growth for a sector that ac- counts for about a quarter of the sales gen- erated by chains on the Technomic Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report. But within that space there are winners and losers. Some brands are resonating with
consumers right now. Some are not. For the most part, upstart concepts with high-quality reputations have done well. Legacy chains that have struggled to keep consumer interest have lost share. Many larger, older chains are ceding share to smaller upstarts. McDonald’s, of course, remains the dominant player, rep- resenting close to half the $113 billion in limited-service burger chain sales last year, according to the Top 500. And it has aver- aged 4.6% annual growth the past four years, including 3% in 2025.
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RESTAURANT BUSINESS JULY 2026
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