12 Popular Fast Food Franchises You Can Own for Under $100000

Maleha Afzal

Sun, Dec 3, 2023, 4:09 PM9 min read

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In this article, we will take a look at the 12 popular fast food franchises you can own for under $100000. If you want to skip our detailed analysis, you can go directly to 5 Popular Fast Food Franchises You Can Own for Under $100000.

According to a report by Precedence Research, the global fast food market was valued at $700 billion in 2022. The global fast food market is expected to grow to over $1 trillion by 2032 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.70%. North America dominated the market with a revenue share of almost 28%. The US fast food market was valued at $126 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow to $180.32 billion by 2032 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.7%. You can check out some of the most popular fast food chains in the United States. Asia Pacific is expected to experience the fastest growth during the forecast years. India, China, and Japan are major contributors to the growth of fast food in the region. Despite rising health and food waste concerns, the demand for ready-to-eat meals is continuously growing.

An Innovative Startup Reducing Food Waste

With growing food waste concerns, some startups are revolutionizing the industry by developing solutions to establish a more sustainable food cycle. One such startup is Too Good To Go. Too Good To Go is a mobile application that connects customers with restaurants and grocery stores with unsold items or surplus foods. The surplus is then sold to customers at discounted prices. Founded in 2015 in Denmark, the startup aims to reduce waste and operates across Europe and North America.

On May 17, Too Good To Go announced the launch of their app in Texas. The free app is available in 17 states across the United States and has saved over 5.5 million meals. The company has partnered with more than 11,000 entities and has helped consumers save $50.1 million with its extensive discounts. Notable names such as Eataly Dallas, Henderson & Kane General Store, and Pasha have signed up on the app. Too Good To Go has almost 450 partners across the state.

Additionally, on October 4, Tim Hortons signed up to partner with Too Good To Go. Over 200 Tim Hortons locations have been added to the app to reduce waste significantly. The app was launched in Canada in 2021 and has saved 2.5 million meals since then.

Most Popular Fast Food Chains

Some of the most popular fast food franchise chains in the world include McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD), Domino's Pizza, Inc. (NYSE:DPZ), and The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN). Let's take a look at some recent updates from these companies.

McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD) is a leading fast food chain in the United States. Founded in 1940, the company has over 40,000 restaurants across the globe. On May 9, McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD) announced its long-term strategic partnership with Glovo. Glovo is a prominent food delivery app based in Barcelona, Spain. The two companies will collaborate to provide consumers with products and services through the Glovo platform globally, especially across prominent Glovo markets. Glovo currently operates in 25 countries and is functional in over 1,500 cities.

McDonald's Corporation's (NYSE:MCD) commitment to enhance the customer experience via long-term strategic partnerships explains the company's financial results. On October 30, McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD) reported earnings for the fiscal third quarter of 2023. The company reported earnings per share of $3.19, beating estimates by $0.20. The company reported revenue worth $6.69 billion during the quarter, ahead of market consensus by $141.70 million and up 13.97% year over year.

Domino's Pizza, Inc. (NYSE:DPZ) is a prominent pizza maker and restaurant chain based in Michigan, United States. The chain has locations across 90 countries with over 20,000 stores worldwide. On October 3, Domino's Pizza, Inc. (NYSE:DPZ) collaborated with the tech giant Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) to develop and revolutionize pizza ordering and operations using generative artificial intelligence and cloud computing. The companies will use Microsoft Cloud and Azure OpenAI to enhance the customer experience at Dominos. The AI tools will help store managers streamline inventory management, ordering, and staff scheduling operations.

Wall Street is positive on Domino's Pizza, Inc. (NYSE:DPZ). On November 28, Stifel analyst Chris O'Cull reiterated a Buy rating on Domino's Pizza, Inc. (NYSE:DPZ) and maintained his price target of $430. Over the past 3 months, 13 Wall Street analysts have recommended to Buy the stock. Domino's Pizza, Inc. (NYSE:DPZ) has an average price target of $411.32 and a high forecast of $483.

The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN) is a fast food chain based in Ohio, United States. The company currently owns over 6,500 restaurant chains worldwide. The company is known for the development of limited-time products. On November 28, The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN) announced the launch of the new Pretzel Baconator for a limited time. The grilled pretzel comes with Wendy's signature applewood smoked bacon and "never frozen" beef. The baconator is a popular choice among the company's consumer base, especially because of its satisfying flavour.

Wendy's popularity is indicative of its financial results. On November 2, The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN) reported earnings for the fiscal third quarter of 2023. The company reported earnings per share of $0.27, beating estimates by $0.02. The company also reported revenue worth $550.56 million, up 3.38% year over year.

While McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD), Domino's Pizza, Inc. (NYSE:DPZ), and The Wendy's Company (NASDAQ:WEN) are prominent fast food franchises, investing in them may be highly costly, especially for beginners. We have compiled a list of 12 popular fast food franchises you can own for under $100000. Let's take a look at them now. You can also check out some of the most valuable fast food companies in the world.

12 Popular Fast Food Franchises You Can Own for Under $100000

Our Methodology

For our title, 12 popular fast food franchises you can own for under $100000, we commenced our research by scanning popular fast food chains on Franchise Direct and Franchise Gator. We applied investment filters to acquire names for the top fast food franchises you can open for under $100000. This process enabled us to curate our initial list of 25 popular fast food chains with a minimum cash requirement of $100,000 or less. We then based our assessment of the popularity of a franchise on the total number of independently owned franchise locations. In most cases, we could find the number on the franchise's official site. However, in some cases, we resorted to third-party and unofficial reports from Redliondata. Such instances are separated and can be identified by "Estimated Number of Locations."

It is to be noted that we tried to source official net income figures from official franchise disclosure documents or sources. However, we were unable to do so for our list of franchises. Therefore, we sourced estimated annual sales revenue figures or annual reported revenues by the parent company for more context. We sourced estimated sales figures from Growjo, Zoominfo, and Zippia and official sales figures from official reports published by the franchise chain. The list of the 12 popular fast food franchises you can own for under $100000 is in descending order of the minimum cash required. We used the number of locations as a tie-breaker for two or more franchises with the same minimum cash required.