Diving into Dining: RBI & Yum! Brands 2024 Recap

RBI and Yum! Brands own and operate some of the country’s most beloved and well-known dining chains. We took a look at the visit data for 2024 to see how the two companies fared in a period of economic headwinds and uncertainty. 

Dining Leaders

Restaurant Brands International (RBI) and Yum! Brands are leaders in the fast food and fast casual dining segment. Each company operates four restaurants with major footprints across the country – RBI owns Tim Hortons, Burger King, Firehouse Subs, and Popeyes, and Yum! manages Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, KFC, and The Habit Burger Grill.

Yum! Brands enjoyed visit and visits per location growth in all but one quarter, capping off Q4 2024 with an 0.8% increase in visits and a 1.6% increase in visits per location on a YoY basis. RBI’s visits and visits per location, meanwhile, hovered at or just below 2023’s levels in all but one quarter of the year, highlighting the challenges facing the dining segment in 2024.

Mixed Visits, Popeye’s Stands Out

Of the four RBI brands, Popeyes enjoyed the strongest visitation patterns throughout 2024.The chain has been a standout for the past few years – likely owing to its popular chicken sandwiches – and Popeyes performed well in 2024 as well, with YoY visit growth during most quarters. 

Following Popeyes in visit growth was Tim Hortons – Canada’s leading coffee chain – which saw positive momentum in the first half of 2024, though visits dipped in the latter half of the year. And though Burger King’s visits were sluggish, the chain has been focusing on optimizing its store fleets with strong results.

While overall visits across RBI’s brands were slightly below 2023 levels, their ability to remain close to last year’s numbers – and even achieve growth in some quarters – signals resilience. 

Yum! Brands: Promotions Boost Visits

Yum! Brands delivered a strong performance in 2024, buoyed by Pizza Hut and Taco Bell’s consistent growth. Taco Bell in particular stood out, driving foot traffic through promotions like its highly popular Taco Tuesday special. The chain experienced quarterly YoY visit growth throughout the year, culminating in a 2.1% increase in Q4 2024 relative to 2023.

Pizza Hut also experienced impressive visitation growth in 2024, especially in Q2. In contrast, KFC faced challenges with declining visits, while The Habit Burger Grill’s traffic remained steady, closely tracking 2023 levels. 

Stabilizing Visits, Room For Growth

RBI and Yum! Brands experienced ups and downs throughout 2024, with some of their chains thriving while others showed modest visit declines. 

With the new year well underway, how might RBI and Yum! work to drive increased visits to their restaurants?

Visit Placer.ai for the latest data-driven dining updates.