Sandwiches are the most menued item in restaurants, according to Technomic data. Fast-casual concepts are leading the charge, but sandwiches appear in every segment and cuisine. What's more, they are prevalent in every daypart: breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Here's the latest on what's happening between the bread.
- From 2010 through September, 2012, sandwiches beat out the next popular items, main salads and pizza, by a large margin
- Sandwich chains within the Technomic Top 150 fared much better than their limited-service counterparts across the industry and are expanding
- Chicken is the top protein choice for fast-casual sandwiches. 37% of consumers who eat chicken sandwiches said they order them at fast-casual restaurants at least occasionally, according to Technomic’s 2013 Center of the Plate: Poultry Consumer Trend Report
- Breakfast sandwiches were up 8.1% annually on the menus of the top 500 limited service chains, as reported in Technomic’s MenuMonitor Service in 2013
- Global sandwiches are mainstream, many rising in popularity via food trucks. Vietnamese banh mi, Cuban melts, Chinese bao and French pan bagna are among the favorites
- Grilled cheese sandwiches are the single focus of several new multi-unit concepts. These include Melt Shop (NYC), The Melt (San Francisco) and Chedd’s (Denver)
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