Adjoined Research Measures America's Dining Demand with National Restaurant Chains and Identifies New, Untapped Sources of Revenue Growth

Business Wire, Sept 2, 2004

MIAMI -- Companies Analyzed:

Applebee's, Burger King, Chili's, Cheesecake Factory, Cracker Barrel, Denny's, Lone Star, Longhorn, McDonalds, Olive Garden, Outback, P.F. Chang's, Pizza Hut, Red Lobster, Ruby Tuesday, Taco Bell, Wendys

Adjoined Research, an independent division of Adjoined Consulting, Inc., today released its national study of consumer demand for quick-service and casual dining restaurant chains. Through Adjoined's patented methods for measuring demand, the research is the only study to directly link financial results with corporate performance and key actions. Top performing national restaurant chains across all groups of diners include The Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE), Cracker Barrel (NASDAQ:CBRL), Longhorn Steakhouse (NASDAQ:RARE), Outback Steakhouse (NYSE:OSI), and P.F. Chang's China Bistro (NASDAQ:PFCB). The top performer for quick-service restaurants is Taco Bell (YUM Brands) (NYSE:YUM). The study ranks each national chain in terms of quarterly sales growth, restaurant performance and ability to generate demand with today's diner.

Whereas most dining studies focus on customer food needs, the Adjoined proprietary framework measures what consumers need and desire in return for their hard-earned dollars paid out. By connecting desires with dollars, the study shows the clear trade-offs that diners are willing to make. The study defines five Dining types that cover three distinct price ranges. Whereas three groups are already tapped by restaurants today, Adjoined analysis identifies two new, largely untapped markets for today's restaurant industry (see chart). The two groups combined make up 49% of all consumer diners today and about 37% of all dollars spent at both quick-service and casual dining restaurants.

The study also measures Consumer brand preferences for all types of beverages (water, juices, sodas, beer, wine and sprits) and their ability to generate demand for the restaurants. Market leaders in preference are Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) for non-alcoholic beverages (sodas, water and juices) with 24.3% for Coke, Anheuser-Busch (NYSE:BUD) with 15% for Budweiser, Gallo with 25.6% for wine, and Bacardi with 11.9% for spirits.

The study further measures dining styles and trends across eleven categories such as Calorie-Counter, Low-Fat, Low-Carb, Meat-Eater, Natural/Holistic and Vegetarian. Because cultures often influence dining styles, the categories also include Asian, Hispanic/Latin and Middle Eastern. The largest category - with over 62% of US consumers - is the Indifferents, which are diners that eat whatever they want. Over the last year though, the percentage of Indifferents decreased by over 5%.

For more key facts/findings and to download a complimentary executive overview, please go to www.demand3d.com/restaurants.htm. Special report pricing is available for thirty days from the release of Adjoined research studies.

The research covers 16 market leaders including Applebee's (NASDAQ:APPB), Burger King (Formerly Carrols Corp.), Chili's Bar & Grill (Brinker) (NYSE:EAT), The Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE), Cracker Barrel (NASDAQ:CBRL), Dennys (NASDAQ:DNYY), Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon (NASDAQ:STAR), Longhorn Steakhouse (NASDAQ:RARE), McDonalds (NYSE:MCD), Olive Garden (Darden) (NYSE:DRI), Outback Steakhouse (NYSE:OSI), P.F. Chang's China Bistro (NASDAQ:PFCB), Pizza Hut (YUM Brands) (NYSE:YUM), Red Lobster (Darden) (NYSE:DRI), Ruby Tuesday (NYSE:RI), Taco Bell (YUM Brands) (NYSE:YUM) and Wendy's (NYSE:WEN). Statistically significant coverage also exists on TGI Friday's but since they are not a public corporation, the report does not include the company. Non-statistically significant data exists for 15 additional restaurant chains.

About This Research

Adjoined Research randomly selected over 5,000 US consumers primarily assembled by paper invitation hand-outs at restaurant chains across the US. All respondents were at least 21 years old. Respondent data was then weighted for Age, Gender, Income and Geographic Region to accurately reflect the US population according to the latest Census 2000 data available. Based on 1,089 respondents, the margin of error is /- 3.03 points at the 95% confidence level. As part of its annual studies across 12 sectors, Adjoined Research conducts over 100,000 independent interviews with consumers every year.

Full Disclosure

Adjoined Research asserts that no companies or associations sponsored this research and no executives directly hold stock in any of the companies measured, nor have they traded any of their stocks in the last year. Adjoined Research is not a registered investment advisor or broker/dealer. The information provided by Adjoined Research is for information only and not to be construed as an offer to sell or a solicitation or an offer to buy the commodities or any securities herein named.

About Adjoined Research

Adjoined Research (www.demand3d.com) is the independent research division of Adjoined Consulting, Inc. (www.adjoined.com), an industry-focused, full-service management consulting firm. With more than 200 Global 2000 companies as clients, Adjoined focuses on solving business challenges for clients in the consumer goods and retail, food and beverage, life sciences, industrial products, financial services, communications, and travel and leisure industries. Headquartered in Miami, Adjoined Consulting also has offices in Atlanta and New York and outsourcing data centers in Boston and Phoenix.