The latest issue of La Revue Chaînes de Food Service Vision describes a market that has become a real industry with economic model challenges, of attractiveness, shareholding, customer acquisition strategies. All in a complex economic context.
Leader in economic intelligence in the catering industry, Food Service Vision has just published the 2026 edition of its Chaînes Review, which provides a complete overview of chain catering in France (economic situation, capital movements, brand strategies, evolution of offers, customer experience…). In a rather gloomy situation, sales passed the milestone of 25 billion euros in 2025 to 25,5 billion, an increase of 3% compared to 2024. We are certainly far from the performances achieved between 2020 and 2022. Nevertheless, since 2019, chain catering turnover has increased by 35%. In 2025, growth was driven by the “park” effect (turnover per point of sale remained stable) and by the inflation of cards while attendance shows a decline of 2%. Note that it is fast food that is driving market growth., while table catering has not progressed in 2025.
The four underlying trends
This edition of La Revue Chaînes also highlights four trends. The brand portfolio is consolidating and restructuring as shown, For example, the acquisition of the Lyon brand Les Burgers de Papa by Bchef, or that of Street Bangkok by Bao Family which gave birth to the Asian Club group. The chain catering market attracts investors as proven by the numerous operations of recent months, like Tawila Capital which launched Big Canteen and Fatburger in 2026. The choice of players for franchising marks their desire for rapid growth and networking of their territories. Finally, the sector continues to attract foreign brands as shown by the Wingstop establishments (Texas), Tortilla (UK), Holy Burek (Croatia), oh Chopstick (UK).
An increasing number of points of sale
In terms of economic performance, we observe a fairly high stability of the segments. The hamburger market remains the undisputed leader with 9,2 billion euros in turnover. Followed by the bakery and pastry shop (3,3 billion), pastries and sandwiches (1,4 billion), chicken fast food (1,2 billion), and the grill (1 billion).
This does not prevent brands from pursuing strategies to expand the offering by offering new and exotic tastes., crispy recipes, more gourmet vegetarian offerings, or mini portions. Note the market share of chained bakeries and pastries, increased from 11 to 13% between 2023 and 2025. Fast food remained stable at 66% and table service declined from 23 to 21%.. The market is also marked by the increase in points of sale, the number of which reached 20,796 in 2025 compared to 17,000 in 2021., i.e. + 20%.
