The pandemic has brought a lot of bad news for restaurants, but there’s a silver lining for fast food restaurants, which are thriving. Specifically, Yum Brands, the parent company of Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut, broke a fast food record in 2021, opening up 4,180 new restaurants. Sales at those three chains were also up around 10 percent each over the last year. Outside of Yum Brands, McDonald’s, Starbucks, and Chipotle also opened a combined total of nearly 3,000 new stores in 2021. The success is due also to more chains eliminating their value menus, slowly raising prices on popular items, and introducing more limited time offerings at higher price points. Less for more. Wear your mask.
