Franchise Times Fast & Serious 2026
To rank the smartest-growing franchise brands, we analyze information on 10 data points using a proprietary formula. Two of those data points, systemwide sales growth and unit growth over three years, are shown here. See the “About this project” description below for more information on how Franchise Times creates this ranking.
About Our Fast & Serious Project
Franchise Times created a formula to identify fast-growing franchise systems that also have staying power, as an antidote to multiple other rankings that include too many one-year wonders. Controller Matt Haskin developed a proprietary 10-point formula, including percentage sales growth, percentage unit growth, dollar sales growth and numerical unit growth over the past three years. The database for the project is the Franchise Times Top 400, our annual ranking published in October of the largest franchise systems by revenue. Haskin identified the companies that submitted information for all three years for that project, then selected for analysis those with systemwide sales above $40 million.
Dave’s Hot Chicken started in 2017 in a Los Angeles parking lot. Now it’s closing in on 400 stores, and from 2022 to 2024 its unit count grew by 153.9 percent. That surge puts Dave’s at No. 2 on the Fast & Serious list, and co-founder Arman Oganesyan credits organic customer social media posts with powering much of the growth. Drive-thru coffee brand 7 Brew tops the list with sales growth of 865.4 percent and unit growth of 744.7 percent for the three-year period from 2022 to 2024. Check out tactics from 40 franchise leaders in this exclusive research project that identifies sustainably growing brands.
