The money
Food cost can be higher than QSR, typically around 28-35%, because ingredients are fresher and less processed. Labour is usually lower than table-service restaurants because there are no servers, often around 25-30%. Lunch-heavy sites depend on office occupancy, which hybrid work has hit. Rapid roll-out funded by investors can mean thin unit economics masked by growth. Digital ordering and loyalty apps are central to repeat visits.
Numbers that matter
- Throughput per hour at lunch
- guests served in the peak
- Average ticket
- spend per order
- Digital mix
- share of orders via app or kiosk
- Food cost %
- ingredient cost as share of sales
- Unit payback period
- months to recover fit-out cost
- Repeat visit rate
- loyalty-driven return frequency
What keeps owners up
- Office footfall changes from hybrid working
- Investor demand for fast growth
- Ingredient inflation on fresh produce
- Saturated lunch markets in city centres
- Delivery dependency
What we talk about
- Is fast casual a career sector or a stepping stone
- The lunch economy after hybrid work
- Fit-out costs and why some brands can't make the numbers work
- Assembly-line kitchens and repetitive strain
- Food halls as incubators for new brands
- Tips on counters: where does the screen money go