HISTORY47 - Fast Food

This article is about the weighty (pun intended) subject of fast food.  Fast food is irresistible to many of us, and I was fascinated to discover its interesting history.

 

I will cover the history of fast food, the 50 largest fast food chains by sales, criticism of fast food, some interesting facts about fast food, and finish with a snapshot of the fast food industry today and a forecast for the future.

My principal sources for this story include “The History of Fast food - Development of the Fast Food Industry,” at historyoffastfood.com; “The Fascinating Origins of the 25 Biggest Chain Restaurants,” at thedailymeal.com; “Ranking the Top 50 Fast food Chains in America,” at qsrmagazine.com; “Most Popular Fast Food Chains in Every Decade,” at eatthis.com; plus numerous other online sources.

“Fast food” is a commercial name for food that is made in a short time, and served to customers in a packaged form for take-out/take-away, or at limited table service.

The fastest form of fast food consists of pre-cooked meals kept in readiness for a customer's arrival (e.g., Boston Market rotisserie chicken, Little Caesars pizza), with waiting time reduced to mere seconds.  Other fast food outlets, primarily the hamburger outlets (e.g., McDonald's, Burger King) use mass-produced pre-prepared ingredients (e.g., bagged buns and condiments, frozen beef patties, and vegetables which are prewashed, pre-sliced, or both), but the hamburgers and french fries are always cooked fresh (or at least relatively recently) and assembled "to order.”  Fast food restaurants are traditionally distinguished by their ability to serve food via a drive-through.

Fast food restaurants are typically part of a restaurant chain or franchise operation that provides standardized ingredients and/or partially prepared foods and supplies to each restaurant through controlled supply channels.

The term "fast food" was first recognized in a dictionary by Merriam-Webster in 1951.

Variations on the fast food restaurant concept include fast casual restaurants, catering trucks, gas stations with convenience stores, and street vendors.  Fast casual restaurants have higher sit-in ratios, offering a hybrid between counter-service typical at fast food restaurants and a traditional table service restaurant.  Catering trucks (also called food trucks) often park just outside worksites and at special events like fairs, etc.

Fast food is big business.  American-founded fast food chains such as McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) are today multinational corporations with outlets across the globe.  In 2021, the global fast food industry revenue is estimated at $648 billion, with the U.S accounting for $297 billion.

Although there were some types of fast food outlets earlier, fast food restaurants are a phenomenon of the 20^th century.

History of Fast Food

Early Fast Food.  The first place that had ready-cooked fast food for sale was Ancient Rome.  The urban population that lived in multi-story apartments didn’t have kitchens and had to buy their food from food vendors.  They bought bread soaked with wine, and ate stews and cooked vegetables in simple restaurants.

A Chinese Han Dynasty text dating from the 2^nd century describes noodle stands that stayed open all night.  

European towns of the Middle Ages had street vendors that sold pies, pastries, flans, waffles, wafers, pancakes, and cooked meats.  The vendors sold their food to those who couldn’t cook their own food, like the poor and travelers.  Those places that were near the coast, and were involved in fishing, developed fast food that included local shellfish or seafood.

The British favorite “fish and chips” appeared in 19^th century with the development of trawler fishing; the first fish and chips shop opened in 1860 at Tommyfield Market in Oldham, England.  

In 1896, Max Sielaff in Berlin invented “automats,” vending machines that served simple food and drinks.  In 1902, Joseph Horn and James Hardart opened an automat in New York City, the first fast food outlet in the United States.  It created a sensation and sparked the building of other automats around the country.

Fast Food Chains.  Here are some highlights from the history of fast food chains in the United States, including today’s top 15 moneymakers.

In 1916, Nathan Handwerker, a Polish shoemaker, opened a hot dog stand on Coney Island, New York - the beginning of Nathan’s Famous fast food restaurants.

A&W, founded by Roy W. Allen and Frank Wright, opened in 1919, and started selling root beer.  They opened their first drive-in restaurant in Sacramento, California in 1923, and started selling their franchise. They sold hamburgers, french fries, and hot dogs

White Castle opened the first hamburger chain in Wichita, Kansas in 1921.  They sold hamburgers, and were the first to standardize production of food.  They created the first fast food supply chain that supplied ingredients to all outlets.  They had a small menu which had cheap hamburgers, and they sold them in large numbers.  White Castle’s founder, Walt A. Anderson, is credited with invention of the hamburger bun as we know it today.  White Castle changed the public's perception towards ground beef and made hamburgers popular.  White Castle was the most popular fast food chain in the 1930s

It wasn’t all hot dogs and hamburgers.

In 1937, Vernon Rudolph launched Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and coffeehouse chain, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

When automobiles became more popular in the 1940s, drive-in restaurants started appearing around the United States.  Customers in cars were served by carhops wearing roller skates.

Brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald opened a barbecue drive-in in 1940, called McDonald’s, in the city of San Bernardino, California.  In time they found that most of their profits came from hamburgers, so they streamlined their production (called it "Speedee Service System"), and started selling hamburgers, french fries, shakes, coffee, and Coca-Cola in paper containers.  Ray Kroc, salesman of the firm which sold equipment to McDonald’s, signed a franchise agreement with the brothers in 1954, and started the expansion of McDonald’s.  McDonalds was the most popular U.S. fast food chain in in the 1950s, 2000s, and 2010s.

McDonald's restaurant with the familiar golden arches in Illinois, 1955.

 

The pace of fast food restaurant openings quickened.

In 1948, Bill Rosenberg opened his first doughnut restaurant in Quincy, Massachusetts, and in 1950 changed the name to Dunkin’ Doughnuts.  The restaurant served only doughnuts and high-quality coffee, and was an immediate success.

KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) was founded by Colonel Harland Sanders, an entrepreneur who began selling fried chicken from his roadside restaurant in Corbin, Kentucky, during the Great Depression. KFC was the most popular fast food in the 1940s.  Sanders identified the potential of restaurant franchising, and the first "Kentucky Fried Chicken" franchise opened in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1952.  KFC popularized chicken in the fast-food industry, diversifying the market by challenging the established dominance of the hamburger.  Branding himself "Colonel Sanders,” the founder became a prominent figure of American cultural history, and his image remains widely used in KFC advertising. 

In 1953, two Miami, Florida businessmen, Keith J. Kramer and Matthew Burns, opened an Insta-Burger King - a fast food restaurant that used cooking devices called Insta-Broilers.  They made hamburgers and were so successful that they started franchising.  They faltered in 1959, and were bought by their Miami, Florida franchisees, James McLamore and David R. Edgerton, and renamed Burger King.  In 1967, when they had over 250 outlets in United States, they were sold to the Pillsbury Company, and Burger King’s growth continued.  Burger King was the most popular fast food chain in 1980s.

In 1953, Troy N. Smith founded a walk-up root beer stand in Shawnee Oklahoma, soon converted it to a steak house, and in 1956, realizing that most of his sales were from root beer, hamburgers, and hot dogs, focused on that fare, and renamed the restaurant Sonic Drive-In.  Sonic was known for the use of car hops on roller skates and jukebox music in the parking lot.

In 1958, brothers Dan and Frank Carney, opened the first Pizza Hut restaurant near Wichita State University in Kansas.  Business boomed quickly, and the first franchise opened in Topeka in 1959.  Pizza Hut became the first franchise to offer delivery, revolutionizing the industry, and leading to even greater success.  The pizza chain had 4,000 outlets across the country by the time the Carney brothers sold the business to PepsiCo in 1977.

The year 1961 featured three fast food restaurant openings.

John Galardi started with one Wienerschnitzel hot dog stand in Newport Beach, California to become the largest hot dog chain in the United States.

After 15 years in the food business in Hapeville, Georgia, S. Truett Cathy found a pressure-fryer that could cook chicken for a sandwich in the same amount of time it took to cook a fast-food hamburger.  Following this discovery, he registered the name Chick-fil-A, Inc.  The company's trademarked slogan, "We Didn't Invent the Chicken, Just the Chicken Sandwich,” refers to their flagship menu item, the Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich. 

Brothers Tom and James Monaghan bought “Dominick’s pizza store” in Ypsilanti, Michigan.  In 1965, they renamed their store “Domino’s.”  The secret to the company’s early success was a new type of insulated pizza box that Tom invented that could be stacked without being crushed.  The first franchise was sold in 1967, and by 1978, there were 200 locations.  Dominoes was the most popular fast-food restaurant in the 1960s.

After 16 years in the hot dog and hamburger fast food business, in 1952, Glen Bell opened up a taco stand in San Bernadino called Taco Tia.  The restaurant took off, and over the next few years, Bell bought several more taco stands, including four called El Taco.  In 1962, he sold off his existing restaurants and opened the first Taco Bell in Downey, California.  Within two years, he’d sold his first franchise, and by 1967, 100 Taco Bells were in business, focused on Mexican-inspired food.

In 1964, brothers Forrest and Leroy Raffell opened the first Arby’s sandwich restaurant in Boardman, Ohio.  Starting with roast beef sandwiches, potato chips, and soft drinks, the restaurant gradually added additional menu items including the “Beef 'n Cheddar,” Jamocha Shakes, chicken sandwiches, curly fries, baked potatoes, and signature sauces.  Arby’s became the first restaurant in the fast food industry to offer a complete "lite" menu in 1991 with several sandwiches and salads under 300 calories and 94 percent fat-free.

In 1965, Pete’s Super Submarine Sandwich Shop was opened by 17-year -old Frederick DeLuca and a family friend, Peter Buck, in Bridgeport, Connecticut.  Renamed “Subway” in 1968, a franchise operation began in 1974.  Subway primarily sold submarine sandwiches (subs), wraps, salads, and beverages.  The longtime Subway slogan, "Eat Fresh", is intended to indicate the fresh ingredients that are used in their sandwiches.

In the late 1960s, fast food moved into urban centers, partly because the industry had saturated the suburbs and needed to expand.

Working for, and a friend of KFC’s Colonel Harland Sanders, in 1969, Dave Thomas opened a restaurant of his own, specializing in hamburgers, which he christened in honor of his 8-year-old daughter Melina Lou, who was nicknamed Wenda, giving it the slightly more common name Wendy’s.  The first location was in Columbus, Ohio.  The chain is known for its square hamburgers, sea salt fries, and the “Frosty,” a form of soft-serve ice cream mixed with starches.  Wendy’s was the most popular U.S. fast food chain in the 1970s.

Starbucks was founded in 1971 by three friends who met at the University of San Francisco; the first location in Seattle only sold whole roasted coffee beans, not brewed coffee.  The company grew in popularity over the next several years, introducing brewed coffee and espresso, and by the time former employee Howard Schultz bought it in 1987, there were already six locations.  Schultz implemented a rapid expansion program, and when the company went public in 1992, there were 140 outlets. Starbucks was the most popular fast food chain in 1990s.

Chuck E. Cheese, an American family entertainment center and restaurant pizza chain, was founded in 1977 by Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell.   The first location opened as Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theater in San Jose, California.  It was the first family restaurant to integrate food with arcade games and animated entertainment.

One of the quickest-expanding fast food chains in the country, Panera Bread got its start in 1993, when the Au Bon Pain company purchased the St. Louis Bread Company’s 20 St. Louis-area bakery-cafés and changed the name to Panera Bread.  The new company became very successful.

Chipotle, specializing in tacos and burritos that are made to order in front of the customer, was founded by Steve Ells, a Culinary Institute of America graduate, in 1993.  He’d been inspired by the popular tacos and burritos he discovered in San Francisco’s Mission District while working there.  Chipotle had 16 restaurants (all in Colorado) when McDonald's Corporation became a major investor in 1998.  By the time McDonald's fully divested itself from Chipotle in 2006, the chain had grown to over 500 locations, with more than 2,000 locations by 2006

International.  Since the early 1970s, American fast food franchises have ventured into international markets, including McDonalds, KFC, Burger King, and Subway.  How did these fast food companies, known for Big Macs and Whoppers and Buckets of Fried Chicken, grow their concepts in international markets?  The secret ingredient in their success was that they embraced and engaged consumers in each culture they entered.  While they offered local consumers (and travelers) a taste of Americana, the companies that have had the most success in international markets have also adapted their menus and ingredients to meet the taste preferences of the local consumers, who then became their loyal customer base.

Expanded Menu.  Over the years, fast food restaurants expanded their original menus from the standard fare of hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, pizza, tacos, sandwiches, doughnuts, etc., to include many variations of their principal product (e.g., McDonalds’ Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, Double Cheeseburger, combo meals, etc.); alternate products (e.g., mixing burgers and chicken sandwiches); a large range of new side dishes (e.g., onion rings, salads, fruit, soup, macaroni, nachos, chicken wings, chicken nuggets/bites, popcorn, corn on the cob, etc.); dessert choices (e.g., ice cream, pie, cookies, cupcakes, candies, etc.); snacks (e.g.,  pastries, biscuits, pretzels, cheese sticks, etc.); and a complete range of beverages including special coffees, tea, soft drinks of every variety, fruit drinks, ice cream sodas, milkshakes.  One of the biggest menu expansion areas is breakfast fare (e.g., egg dishes, bacon, sausage hotcakes, hashbrowns, oatmeal, etc.), today offered by an increasing number of fast food chains.

 

Here is a sampling of the extensive menu of available fast foods.

Largest Fast Food Chains by Sales

QSR Magazine provided the data shown in the table below, ranking the top 50 fast food chains by total U.S. sales for the year 2018.  Note McDonald’s is the clear leader in sales, and that McDonald’s and Starbucks, each significantly outsells the rest of the fast food chains.  The column at the far right in the table shows the total number of U.S. outlets for each fast food chain.  Subway has many more U.S. outlets than any other chain. 

The top 20 chains are fairly evenly split among food categories, represented by five burger places, three chicken chains, three sandwich chains, three pizza chains, three snack outlets, and three global-fare chains (including two Mexican-inspired outlets and one Chinese).  Finally, though they are still around and successful, A&W, Nathan’s Famous, Krispy Kreme, Wienerschnitzel, and Chuck E. Cheese did not make the top 50.

                                            Top 50 fast food chains by U.S. sales.

Rank	COmpany	category	2018         U.S. sales millions	2018       Total       U.S.       Outlets
1	MCDONALD'S	BURGER	38,524.05	13,914
2	STARBUCKS*	SNACK	19,700.00	14,825
3	SUBWAY*	SANDWICH	10,410.34	24,798
4	TACO BELL	GLOBAL	10,300.00	6,588
5	CHICK-FIL-A*	CHICKEN	10,000.00	2,400
6	WENDY'S	BURGER	9,993.70	6,711
7	BURGER KING*	BURGER	9,950.00	7,327
8	DUNKIN'	SNACK	8,787.00	9,419
9	DOMINO'S*	PIZZA	6,600.00	5,876
10	PANERA BREAD*	SANDWICH	5,734.63	2,093
11	PIZZA HUT	PIZZA	5,500.00	7,456
12	CHIPOTLE	GLOBAL	4,800.00	2,491
13	SONIC DRIVE-IN	BURGER	4,447.10	3,606
14	KFC	CHICKEN	4,400.00	4,074
15	ARBY'S	SANDWICH	3,886.90	3,329
16	LITTLE CAESARS*	PIZZA	3,800.00	4,262
17	DAIRY QUEEN	SNACK	3,650.00	4,406
18	JACK IN THE BOX	BURGER	3,466.13	2,237
19	PANDA EXPRESS*	GLOBAL	3,400.00	2,104
20	POPEYES*	CHICKEN	3,325.00	2,368
21	PAPA JOHN'S*	PIZZA	2,720.00	3,337
22	WHATABURGER	BURGER	2,416.00	825
23	JIMMY JOHN'S*	SANDWICH	2,200.00	2,803
24	HARDEE'S*	BURGER	2,120.00	1,864
25	ZAXBY'S*	CHICKEN	1,850.00	898
26	FIVE GUYS	BURGER	1,615.84	1,358
27	CULVER'S	BURGER	1,580.00	686
28	CARL'S JR.*	BURGER	1,425.00	1,156
29	BOJANGLES'	CHICKEN	1,296.21	759
30	WINGSTOP	CHICKEN	1,261.03	1,252
31	RAISING CANE'S*	CHICKEN	1,185.00	400
32	JERSEY MIKE'S*	SANDWICH	1,148.49	1,494
33	STEAK 'N' SHAKE*	BURGER	1,035.00	594
34	IN-N-OUT BURGER*	BURGER	950.00	338
35	EL POLLO LOCO*	CHICKEN	870.00	484
36	QDOBA	GLOBAL	835.00	743
37	CHECKERS/RALLY'S	BURGER	824.64	882
38	DEL TACO	GLOBAL	817.77	580
39	FIREHOUSE SUBS	SANDWICH	810.95	1,115
40	PAPA MURPHY'S	PIZZA	795.58	1,437
41	TIM HORTONS*	SANDWICH	760.00	727
42	CHURCH'S CHICKEN*	CHICKEN	750.00	1,086
43	MOE'S	GLOBAL	734.56	719
44	MCALISTER'S DELI	SANDWICH	678.12	444
45	JASON'S DELI	SANDWICH	654.32	278
46	MARCO'S PIZZA	PIZZA	621.77	883
47	BASKIN-ROBBINS	SNACK	612.00	2,550
48	AUNTIE ANNE'S	SNACK	558.24	1,295
49	BOSTON MARKET	CHICKEN	557.77	454
50	WHITE CASTLE*	BURGER	555.00	375

*INCLUDES FIGURES ESTIMATED BY QSR.

 

Criticism of Fast Food

There are many criticisms of the fast food industry and its influence on humanity.  Here are some examples:

Fast food is not healthy if consumed often, and fast food habits are related to the increase of obesity among people.  Moreover, in recent years, fast food restaurants have introduced upsizing, and now offer super-size meals, french fries, drinks, etc.  Fast food can become physiologically addictive, leading to physical harm in the body.

The fast food industry is cruel to animals.  For example, chickens spend their lives crowded into industrial feeding operations where they barely have enough room to flap their wings.  Many suffocate and die to due overcrowding.

The fast food industry exploits its workers.  Many fast food restaurants pay their workers minimum wage (or below) which is not enough to live on.  In addition, fast food outlets often cut individual employee work hours, and plan for high worker turnover.

Also, fast food restaurants degrade local cultures because they shift the taste of people from traditional cuisines.

Interesting Facts About Fast Food

Here are some interesting facts about fast food and its history:

General.  The popularization of drive-thru fast food outlets led car manufacturers in the 1990s to install cup holders in the auto dashboards.  As fast food drinks became larger, so did the cup holders.

The fast food industry has dramatically affected how cattle and chickens are raised, slaughtered, and processed.  It also encouraged consolidation in the meatpacking industry, such that there are now many fewer major meatpackers in America.

Coca-Cola originally included coca derivatives such as cocaine in their sodas, which at the time was not illegal.  It was served as a “brain tonic and intellectual soda fountain beverage.”

Belgians invented french fries as a replacement for small fried fish in winter months, when ice didn’t allow for fishing.  British and American soldiers in France during the First World War gave the name to this cuisine - french fries.

French fries are the single most popular fast food in America.  In 1970, french fries surpassed regular potato sales in the United States.  In 2004, Americans ate 7.5 billion pounds of french fries.

The original Dunkin’ Donuts had a handle (a small piece of dough on one side) which made dunking easier.

Pizza Hut was the first firm to deliver pizza to outer space.  They delivered the pizza to the International Space Station in 2001 by Russian rocket.  The Russian space agency was paid by Pizza Hut about $1,000,000 to deliver it.

World Records.  The largest hamburger ever made weighed 2,566 lbs., 9 oz and was achieved in Pilsting, Germany, on 9 July 2017.

The largest cheeseburger ever made weighed 2,014 pounds.  It had 60 pounds of bacon, 50 pounds of lettuce, 50 pounds of sliced onions, 40 pounds of pickles, and 40 pounds of cheese.

The largest bag of potato chips was made in 2013 in the United Kingdom.  It was made by Corkers Crisps company and it weighed 2,515 pounds.

The longest hot dog in the world had length of 669 feet and was made in Paraguay in 2011.

The most expensive hot dog in the world was “Juuni Ban” made by “Tokyo Dog” in Seattle, Washington in 2014.  Its price was $169.

The tallest ice cream cone measured 10 ft, 1.26 inch in height and was achieved at Kristiansand, Norway, on 26 July 2015.

McDonalds Corporation.  McDonald’s is the largest purchaser of beef, pork, and potatoes and the second largest purchaser of chicken in the world.  Its annual orders for french fries constitute 7.5% of America’s entire potato crop.

McDonald’s is one of the largest owners of real estate in the world, and it earns the majority of its profits from collecting rent, not from selling food.

By the end of the 20^th century, one out of eight American workers had at some time been employed by McDonald’s, and 96% of Americans had visited McDonald’s at least once.  McDonald’s was serving an estimated 22 million Americans every day.  Globally, McDonald's' daily customer traffic was 62 million, more than the population of Great Britain.

For the next three years, McDonald's is going to open one restaurant every day in China.

Big Mac is called "Maharaja Mac" in India, and is made of mutton instead of beef, because cows are sacred animals in India.

The Fast Food Industry Today and the Future

Today in the U.S.  There are currently more than 294,000 fast food restaurants located across the United States.  U.S. sales total $297 billion.  Fast food industry employment in the U.S. is just under 4,800,000 people.  Approximately 50 million customers in the United States eat at a fast-food restaurant daily.  Approximately 30 percent of the fast food restaurants are hamburger-focused.

As it becomes more expensive to run a restaurant, more chains are consolidating under mega-companies.  Some examples in the fast food industry include Yum Brands, controlling KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut; Restaurant Brands International, controlling Burger King and Popeyes; Inspire Brands, controlling Arby’s and Sonic; and JAB Holding Company, controlling Panera.

Future Global Growth.  According to the report, “Fast Food Market by Type and End User: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2020-2027,” the global fast food market is expected to reach $932 billion by 2027, growing from $648 billion in 2021.  This significant growth will be due to an increase in the number of fast food restaurants, a rise in the number of working women, tech-savvy ordering options, a rise in demand for international cuisines, and changes in consumer taste and preference.  However, factors such as high setup cost of restaurants, and a rise in health concerns among the fast food consumers, are expected to hamper the growth of this market.  Moreover, the rise of fast casual food is forecasted to negatively affect the fast food market growth.