00:00The fast food industry has a new villain to blame for its troubles, GLP-1s.
00:04But when the restaurant industry actually surveyed people on the drug,
00:08they were eating out more than everyone else, 7.6 times a week versus 5.1.
00:13Here's what's happening.
00:14If you listen to the executives, the sky is falling.
00:18Burger King's US President Tom Curtis called GLP-1 drugs a profound impact
00:22coming for the whole industry.
00:24But when pressed on his own restaurant,
00:27he admitted they haven't shown up in Burger King sales,
00:29which are up 5.8%.
00:31Domino's CEO Russell Wiener said the same thing.
00:34They haven't made a dent in its sales either.
00:36So the biggest names in fast food are bracing for a hit that,
00:40by their own numbers, hasn't landed.
00:42But the fear does have real numbers behind it.
00:45Gallup found roughly one in nine American adults are now on a GLP-1,
00:48nearly four times the share in 2024.
00:51And JP Morgan estimated the drugs could erase 30 to $55 billion in food and beverage revenue by 2030.
00:57But that's a guess.
00:59A National Restaurant Association survey found GLP-1 users dine out more often than non-users,
01:04not less.
01:05And equity firm William Blair concluded that even a doubling of GLP-1 use
01:10would cut industry sales by less than 1%.
01:12So what is thinning the drive-thru line?
01:15Restaurant Business reports traffic keeps falling,
01:17even at chains that didn't raise prices because inflation hit 4.2% and gas is back over $4 a
01:24gallon.
01:25So GLP-1s may be an easy villain to point to,
01:27but people aren't skipping the drive-thru because they're on weight loss drugs.
01:31They're skipping it because it's getting more expensive to leave the house.
01:35But what's keeping you out of the drive-thru?
01:37Let us know in the comments.
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