The Growth of Fast Food Industry Over the Years

Fast Food Industry
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Fast Food Industry
The fast food industry in the United States is one of the crucial industries in the country. The industry gets more and more popular despite the rising concerns about health. Consumers have an insatiable love for fast foods, which has increased revenues for the industry over the years. In order to offer an insight into the industry, this analysis will focus on employment and gross domestic product (GDP) as economic indicators to the industry. Looking at the two indicators will be critical in assisting the CEO of a company in making decisions regarding the of a fast food restaurant.
The first economic indicator in the food industry is the employment rate. Currently, fast food restaurants employ 4,480,350 individuals in the United States. (IbisWorld, 2019) On average, fast food restaurants have 15.2 employees in the United States. In the accommodation and food services industry, fast food restaurants rank second in terms of employment. When compared to the other industries in the United States, the fast food industry is the fifth largest in terms of employment. Over the last five years, the rate of employment has increased by 2.7%. This means that the fast food restaurant business now absorbs more workers that it did five years ago.
The industry has struggled with shifting consumer preferences to the consumption of healthy foods. It has also been adversely affected by the increase in the number of players, which has kept the prices low (IbisWorld, 2018). Nonetheless, the fast food industry has done well due to the low prices and its convenience. Although the stiff competition from the other segments of the food services sector has caused the fast food restaurants to lower their prices to attract clients, the steady customer spending has reduced revenue losses (Sabir et al., 2014). Currently, the industry in the United States is approximately $198.9 billion. The figure is forecasted to increase to more than $223 billion by the year 2020 (Statista, 2019). The industry is growing with more fast food joints coming up. In 2016, the United States had 186,977 franchised quick restaurants (Statista, 2018). This was a figure which has grown by about 28,000 in the last ten years.
The current economic situation indicates...