There’s no getting around it: Despite driving sales progressively higher through off-premises channels, the restaurant industry had to eat some heavy losses in 2020. Even big chains took a big hit. According to the market research firm Technomic, the $304 billion generated by the 500 largest chains last year marks a $27 billion drop from 2019.1
But it turns out that bigger has proved to be better during the pandemic. The lion’s share of sales last year went to the 50 largest chains, which had the advantage of having already incorporated robust drive-thru, delivery and digital capabilities.1
