2002 Fast-Food ``Awards of Excellence'' Announced by Sandelman & Associates; ``Fast-Casual'' Chains Have Raised Consumer Expectations and Now Dominate Satisfaction Ratings.

Business Editors

VILLA PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 3, 2003

A major consumer research study on fast-food restaurants shows that the American public continues to be most satisfied with specialized regional chains, including many in the rapidly growing "Fast-Casual" segment. These findings are based on the quarterly syndicated Quick-Track(R) research program conducted by Sandelman & Associates among 71,600 fast-food users across 61 U.S. markets during 2002.

Based on ratings provided by the study's respondents on fast-food chains they visited in the past three months, Sandelman & Associates announced the fourth annual Quick-Track "Awards of Excellence" for the top-rated chains. "Every year, more chains that we characterize as Fast-Casual have received awards based on strong consumer satisfaction," said Bob Sandelman, president of the market research firm. The chains with the highest overall ratings tend to be those that specialize in a limited menu of items, while providing fast, friendly service and a comfortable atmosphere. "Fast-Casual chains have redefined excellence in the fast-food industry based on providing high quality, good tasting food that is perceived to be fresher and healthier than traditional fast-food items," Sandelman added. In his opinion, there will be a continuation of this trend as more consumers are showing a preference for prepared foods that have fresher ingredients, higher flavor profiles and are perceived as being more healthy and nutritious.

St. Louis Bread Co. & Panera Bread Take Two of the Top Three Spots

St. Louis Bread Co. and Panera Bread are two bakery-cafe chains that are owned by the same parent company -- Panera Bread Company -- which operates 436 restaurants in 30 states under these brand names. St. Louis Bread Co., with units that are located in the St. Louis area and in parts of the Midwest, was the top-rated chain with fully 60% of its past-three-month patrons rating their last occasion as "Excellent", besting 118 other chains for the top honor. Sister concept, Panera Bread, was rated "Excellent" by slightly fewer of its customers (58%), ranking it #3 overall. Both chains, which compete primarily in the breakfast, lunch and snack dayparts, focus on freshly baked breads prepared with all natural, quality ingredients. In addition to their breads, St. Louis Bread Co. and Panera Bread offer made-to-order sandwiches, freshly tossed salads and soups served in sourdough bread bowls. Panera Bread was the highest rated chain on quality of ingredients and order accuracy.

The second highest-rated chain was Pat & Oscar's, rated "Excellent" by slightly more than 58% of its recent customers. This San Diego-based chain currently has about 20 locations in Southern California and Phoenix and offers a broad menu of pizzas, salads, ribs, chicken, pasta and breadsticks. Pat & Oscar's was the highest rated chain on cleanliness of the restaurant.

Fast-Casuals Dominate The Top Ten

In addition to these top three ranked chains, all of which can be characterized as Fast-Casual, three other Fast-Casuals made the Top Ten list. Atlanta Bread, another bakery-cafe concept, was ranked 6th overall, followed closely by Baja Fresh at #7, a rapidly growing Mexican chain with a focus on freshness. Chipotle, another growing fresh Mexican chain, was the 10th ranked chain overall. Each of these chains was rated "Excellent" by at least 49% of recent users compared to an average rating of 34% across all 119 chains for which data were available.

Fourth place in 2002 was In-N-Out Burger, a traditional burgers & fries West Coast chain which had been the highest rated chain for each of the past three years. Remaining chains in the Top Ten included: Rush's, a burger favorite in Columbia, S.C.; Chick-fil-A, a chicken chain with fairly broad distribution, particularly in the Southeast; and Jersey Mike's Subs, a 200+ unit chain with locations mostly along the East Coast.

Many National Chains Improve Overall Ratings

Although no major national chains made the Top Ten again this year, some were rated highly on an overall basis as well as on specific attributes. Subway was the highest rated major national chain, with 41% of its users rating their last occasion as "Excellent," ranking #24 among all 119 chains that were rated. Boston Market was the highest ranking national chicken chain at #32, while Papa John's headed the national pizza category, ranking 48th overall. Sonic was the highest ranking major burger chain at the #51 spot.

Out of 75 chains for which ratings were available in both 2001 and 2002, only 9 chains significantly improved their overall rating since last year. Most of these chains enjoying statistically significant year-to-year increases are key national players, including McDonald's, Wendy's, Hardee's, Taco Bell, and Arby's. Not surprisingly, McDonald's outscored all other chains on convenience of locations and was the second highest rated chain on overall appeal to kids. Subway was the highest rated chain by far on availability of healthy/nutritious food.

Cleanliness, Taste, Order Accuracy Are Most Important

The three most important factors to fast-food users in their selection of a quick-service chain to patronize are the cleanliness of the restaurant (79% rated this "extremely important"), taste or flavor of the food (77%), and order accuracy (71%). Not surprisingly, Fast-Casual chains dominate the top spots on these important attributes. The highest rated chains for cleanliness were Pat & Oscar's, Chipotle, and Panera Bread. Taste/flavor of food was rated best at In-N-Out, Panera Bread, and Pat & Oscar's. For order accuracy, the top three rated chains were Panera Bread, Biscuitville, and Papa Murphy's. Quality of ingredients is also highly important (62%) and was rated best at Panera Bread, In-N-Out Burger, and Pat & Oscar's. Traditional fast-food chains still dominate some of the other key attributes, including convenience of locations, overall appeal to kids, menu variety, and value for the money.

Quick-Track(R) is a syndicated research program that has been conducted by Sandelman & Associates on a quarterly basis since 1988. The large base of respondents surveyed throughout the year provides data with a high level of statistical reliability.

Sandelman & Associates is a Villa Park, Calif., based independent research company that provides the restaurant industry with credible and clear feedback from their customers. More information is available on the Internet at www.sandelman.com.

Information from this press release must be accompanied by a statement identifying Sandelman & Associates as the publisher and Quick-Track as the source. No advertising or other promotional use can be made of the information without the express prior written consent of Sandelman & Associates.