Restaurant players, trends, and how to crack the cases
Major restaurant groups and delivery platforms by region, the deals and cost pressures of 2024 to 2026, regulation basics, and typical case prompts.
Industry brief, with a one-minute summary: Restaurants and food serviceFirm processes and online tests change from year to year and differ by office. Use this to prepare, and confirm the exact current steps on the firm's own careers page.
Key takeaways
- In restaurant cases, first find out who owns the restaurant: the brand, a franchisee, or a master franchisee.
- Common traps in restaurant cases: Forgetting that a franchisor's revenue is royalties and fees, not system sales.
- Delivery platforms consolidated.
- Regulators look closely at platforms.
- Labour costs rose. California set a USD 20 per hour minimum wage for fast food workers at large chains from 1 April 2024.
Key idea
In restaurant cases, first find out who owns the restaurant: the brand, a franchisee, or a master franchisee. The same brand can have very different economics depending on who carries the costs.
| Region | Examples | Sourced facts |
|---|---|---|
| Global and US | McDonald's, Yum! Brands (KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell), Starbucks, Restaurant Brands International | McDonald's reported 45,356 restaurants at the end of 2025, about 95 percent franchised (Form 10-K) |
| Middle East | Americana Restaurants, Alshaya Group, local chains; talabat, Deliveroo, Careem, Noon Food | Americana reported revenue of about USD 2.5 billion in 2025 from about 2,700 restaurants |
| India | Jubilant FoodWorks (Domino's), Devyani International, Westlife (McDonald's west and south); Zomato (Eternal), Swiggy | Jubilant FoodWorks reported consolidated revenue of about INR 9,513 crore in FY26 |
| Europe | McDonald's, Burger King franchisees, local chains; Just Eat Takeaway, Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Glovo | DoorDash completed its purchase of Deliveroo on 2 October 2025; Prosus completed its offer for Just Eat Takeaway.com in October 2025 |
So-what
Food delivery is consolidating into a few large groups, which strengthens their hand against restaurants.
Trends from 2024 to 2026 (checked September 2026)
- Delivery platforms consolidated. DoorDash bought Deliveroo (completed 2 October 2025) and Prosus bought Just Eat Takeaway.com (offer settled in October 2025). talabat listed in Dubai in December 2024 and has grown grocery alongside food.
- Regulators look closely at platforms. In India, the investigation arm of the Competition Commission (CCI) reportedly found in 2024 that Zomato and Swiggy used exclusivity deals and price rules with restaurants that harmed competition. That report is not a final ruling, and no final order had been issued by September 2026; check the current status.
- Labour costs rose. California set a USD 20 per hour minimum wage for fast food workers at large chains from 1 April 2024. Similar pressure in Europe and the Gulf pushes chains toward ordering kiosks, apps, and simpler menus.
Restaurants need food safety licences and face regular hygiene inspections; some cities publish hygiene ratings. Alcohol needs a separate licence and is restricted or banned in some countries. Labour laws set minimum wages, working hours, and rules for tips. Franchising is regulated in some countries, for example the US requires detailed disclosure documents before a franchise is sold. Delivery platforms face competition law and, in some places, rules on how riders are employed.
| Prompt | Case type | Structure hint | First driver to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| A pizza chain in India has falling margins | Profitability | Same-store sales, delivery mix, prime cost, commissions | Share of orders through aggregators and their commission |
| A burger brand wants to enter Saudi Arabia | Market entry | Demand, format, own or franchise, partner choice | Whether to use a master franchise partner or operate directly |
| A casual dining chain in the UK is losing money | Declining industry and turnaround | Restaurant by restaurant profit, covers, prime cost, rent | Covers per seat at peak compared with the best restaurants |
| A delivery platform wants to raise commissions | Pricing | Restaurant economics, alternatives, customer prices | Restaurant contribution per delivery order after the change |
| How many drive-through lanes should a new site have? | Capacity, supply chain, and footprint | Peak demand, service time, the slowest step | Cars per hour at peak against the kitchen bottleneck |
So-what
Restaurant cases usually come back to covers, prime cost, and who pays the delivery commission.
See the Profitability, Market entry, Pricing, and Capacity, supply chain, and footprint case-type modules for the full method. Restaurant counts are also a classic Guesstimates and market sizing prompt: how many coffee shops can a city support?
Forgetting that a franchisor's revenue is royalties and fees, not system sales. Treating labour as fully variable. Ignoring the aggregator commission when a chain celebrates delivery growth. Adding covers without checking the kitchen can cook them at peak. Opening new restaurants close enough to steal each other's guests.
A franchisor reports that system-wide sales grew 10 percent. What does the franchisor itself mostly earn from that growth?
Delivery grew from 20 to 40 percent of a chain's sales, but profit fell. What is the most likely reason?
In a drive-through capacity case, what sets the maximum number of orders per hour?
Sources for this lesson (10)
- McDonald's Form 10-K for 2025
- Yum! Brands Form 10-K for 2025
- Americana Restaurants Q4 2025 earnings call, reported by Investing.com
- Indian Retailer: Jubilant FoodWorks FY26 results (2026)
- DoorDash Form 8-K: completion of the Deliveroo acquisition (October 2025)
- Prosus: offer for Just Eat Takeaway.com declared unconditional (2025)
- Reuters via US News: India antitrust probe finds Zomato and Swiggy breached competition law (November 2024)
- Office of the Governor of California: fast food minimum wage law (September 2023)
- Gulf Business: talabat posts 2025 results (2026)
- Chipotle Mexican Grill: fourth quarter and full year 2025 results (February 2026)
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