Quick Service Industry Trends for 2026

Thank you. And we also have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of 4th, who will be moderating the conversation with Jason. So Jason, how about I let you offer the audience some details about your background and you can likewise inform them a bit about Chop Shop. And then I'll let you take it from there, Clinton.

Thanks Christina. My name is Jason Morgan, CEO of Original Chop Store. I have actually been doing this for about 9 years now. We purchased the brand name in 2016three unitsand I've grown it to 26. Prior to this, I have actually invested most of my career in hospitality in some shape or kind. After a short stint of trying to be an accountant for about a year and a half, I transitioned into casino residential or commercial property and worked in business finance.

I was the first employee there after private equity purchased the service. Assisted grow that from 20 to 150 locations, took it public in 2014, and after that left about a year and a half after going public to do this at Chop Shop. My hope is that we can reproduce the success we had at Zos, and we're off to an actually good start.

We're at the counter, we bring the food to the table. It is primarily protein bowlsabout 40 percent of the mix. We also do salads, sandwiches. The key to the program is we have a beverage component as well with fresh-squeezed juices and protein shakes. We do all stables, we do breakfast throughout the day.

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A little more complex than some of the walk-the-line principles that are out there, but we think we've got something pretty special. We're going to add another shop this year and at least 4 shops next year. We will be 31 or so stores by the end of next year.

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I have actually been in this role for about 6 years. Fourth, as many of you understand, is a leading service provider of software application solutions to the dining establishment and hospitality industry. Our objective is to assist our customers be effective in driving success and being efficientmanaging labor, managing stock, and essentially offering them with tools they require to deliver their vision.

It's uncommon to have business that are beloved and growing quickly, that can duplicate that success every year. Jason, among the factors I was so fired up to have you join our session is the success at Zos was fantastic. I have actually just fulfilled a handful of brands where there was such a strong consumer affinity for the brand name.

When you talk to consumers about Chop Shop, they enjoy the place. And to be able to take what is a fairly complicated principle in terms of delivering a great experience for the client, and be able to grow that from a couple of stores to now north of 30 stores next yearit's remarkable.

We're going to speak about how to scale a restaurant company. Every restaurateur I ever talk with has dreams of taking one store, 2 shops, 5 shops, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, throughout the state, into several states, and eventually nationwide, even international reach. However it's difficult, especially in today's environment.

It's not a simple time to drive success and development at the very same time. How do you scale it and make it successful? Second, beyond technology, how do you scale terrific teams?

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The very first concern I have for you, Jasonlook, you've done this twice now in the restaurant industry. What has your experience been in terms of what it takes to really drive success in broadening restaurants?

We talked a little bit before we began about LinkedIn, and I have actually got a post teed as much as follow this next week about what the playbook is likepoint by pointfor growing an organization. To me, one of the key things, and I feel very lucky, is that both brand names I've been included with are unique.

And there's absolutely nothing exactly like Chop Store in regards to what we're doing with a large, diverse menu. Many brands today are very singularly focused in regards to what they're providing from a food. I feel like we started at an advantage with both brands by having something unique that filled a niche nobody else was doing.

Since it's simply more difficult to stand out when there are 10, 20, 50 concepts within a 2- or three-mile radius trying to do the precise very same thing. So a great deal of it starts with the brand name. Does your brand have something special that nobody else is doing? That's unusual.

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The 2nd thingI originated from a finance background, so a lot of my knowings are more finance and data-driven versus a great deal of early startup restaurateurs who are imaginative types. They love the food, they built the menu, they constructed the brand name. I probably couldn't do that from scratch. If you gave me something that has all those components in place, I can take it from there and put the playbook in place.

They don't understand their breakeven sales. They don't comprehend how margin improves as sales boost. They don't comprehend cash-on-cash returns. I have actually seen so numerous companies where the numbers simply don't work. And yet people state: let's open 10 more. And I'll state: why? It doesn't earn money. Stop. You require to discover a concept that is unique.

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If you do not have those 2 things, you should not be building stores. Yeah, possibly both? Because as I hear your description, you have actually highlighted three things: execution, brand differentiation, and monetary practicality. You have actually got to begin with execution. If you do not have an operating design that works, expanding it simply increases issues.

Quick Service Industry Trends for 2026

Second, you require an engaging brand name or distinct concept that resonates with customers. And third, the math needs to work. If you don't comprehend your unit economics, your repaired and variable expenses, you might be expanding blind and losing cash. Exactly. And another crucial lesson has to do with going into brand-new markets.

But when we broadened to Dallas, I expected new shops to do 5070% of Phoenix sales in the first year. Too numerous operators assume brand-new markets will open at complete volume day one. That nearly never ever takes place. And when the shops open slow, however you've signed leases and built a monetary model based on higher volumes, you get overextended.