Yum! Brands, Inc. announced the completion of its acquisition of The Habit Burger Grill. Yum!, the world’s largest restaurant company by units, adds Habit to its heavyweight brands, KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.
The Habit Burger Grill is an American fast casual restaurant chain that specializes in charbroiled hamburgers. The brand also specializes in marinated chargrilled chicken sandwiches, and sushi-grade chargrilled ahi tuna sandwiches. The fast-casual concept serves up fresh salads and sides, together with handmade frozen treats, to complement its burgers. USA Today’s 2019 Best Readers’ Choice Awards donned Habit Best Regional Fast Food. It operates nearly 300 company-owned and franchised restaurants across the U.S. and in China. The company, headquartered in Irvine, California was founded in 1969.
“Today marks an important milestone in our company’s history as we officially welcome The Habit Burger Grill to the Yum! family,” said David Gibbs, CEO, Yum! Brands. “The Habit Burger Grill is a sweet spot within fast-casual because of its delicious California-inspired menu with premium ingredients at a QSR-like value, strong unit economics and tremendous untapped growth potential in the U.S. and internationally. We couldn’t be more excited about what the future holds for The Habit Burger Grill and believe our acquisition of this trend-forward brand is a ‘win-win-win’ all around. We’ve added another great restaurant brand with a huge runway for growth to our company, our franchisees have a new investment opportunity in an award-winning, fast-casual concept and The Habit Burger Grill can access Yum!’s unmatched scale and strengths in franchising, purchasing and brand-building.”
Leveraging Modern Amenities
Yum!’s acquisition leverages Habit’s modern asset strategy to drive traffic. The brand is known for its investment in contemporary restaurant designs featuring open kitchens, outdoor patios and interiors enhanced with natural light, polished stone and hardwood accents. Habit has also focused on extensively expanding digital and delivery capabilities. Over the past few years, the brand has been enhancing customer experience and offering additional convenience through delivery partnerships. It has also introduced online ordering, a mobile app, restaurant kiosks, drive-thrus and technology-centric solutions to deliver enhanced and varied customer delivery methods.
The proof is in the pudding (or burger) for Habit. The brand has seen strong unit economics and growth. Habit has grown its company-operated restaurant average unit volumes (AUVs) from approximately $1.2 million in fiscal year 2009 to approximately $1.9 million for fiscal year 2019. That’s a 53.9% increase. In the same time period, Habit has grown from 26 locations in California to 271 locations in 13 states. The brand has also expanded internationally in China at a compound annual growth rate of 26.4%.
Russ Bendel, Habit’s CEO, commented on behalf of the brand. “This is a historic day for The Habit Burger Grill and we’re extremely proud to join the Yum! family of brands.
“Our amazing team members and franchisees have always been focused on taking great care of our customers by providing a superior in-store experience and incredible food and none of that will change. Being part of Yum! will take The Habit Burger Grill to the next level by leveraging Yum!’s global scale, resources and franchising capabilities to strengthen and significantly grow our beloved brand for many years to come.”
For all your franchise news, visit Franchise HOW.
