A study by food box company, Gousto has revealed the ‘fictional foodie franchises’ that would be most likely to ‘make it’ in the real world. The Study highlighted 20 iconic eateries as seen-on-screen, revealing how they would stack up if they were real businesses. Points were awarded to the fictional franchises using success markers such as TripAdvisor reviews, number of years open and Instagram hashtags. The rankings help identify the franchise most likely to succeed, in which employees would most likely end up, and where HR would end up managing them.
Key findings
- Breaking Bad’s Los Pollos Hermanos most likely to succeed in the real world
- Los Pollos Hermanos is also the most instagrammable outlet, racking up 1.4m posts tagged with the #LosPollosHermanos
- JJ’s Diner from Parks and Recreation has 32K employees, making it one of the biggest headaches for HR
- The Winchester pub from Shaun of the Dead was least likely to succeed in the real world with the lowest score of any outlet
- Fast-food chains are the franchise type most likely to succeed
- American Psycho’s Dorsia and Friends’ Central Perk landed the best TripAdvisor reviews of 4.5*
From Vesuvio’s, in The Sopranos to Gusteau’s in Ratatouille, the Study identified the three closest real-world equivalents for each fictional franchise. It measured their achievements accordingly to find an average success rate. Using the combined averages of their real-life counterparts, the study found the number of employees that these fictional franchises would have. So, for those working in F&B looking for a fresh opportunity, they would probably want to head to JJ’s Diner or Los Pollos Hermanos to hand in their resume.
Most employable franchises
- Breaking Bad—Los Pollos Hermanos: 39K Employees
- Parks and Recreation—JJ’s Diner: 32K Employees
- Stranger Things—Scoops Ahoy: 5K Employees
- The Simpsons—Krusty Burger: 1.5K Employees
- Always Sunny in Philadelphia—Paddy's Irish Pub: 123 Employees
- Toy Story—Pizza Planet: 83 Employees
- The Vampire Diaries—Mystic Grill: 81 Employees
- Bridesmaids—Cake Baby: 80 Employees
- Pulp Fiction—Jack Rabbit Slims: 69 Employees
- 90210—The Peach Pit: 68 Employees
Recipe for success
To figure out the formula for fictional foodie franchises to succeed, we’ve worked out the average criteria of the top five, based on their real-life counterparts, for a fail-safe way to make it to the top if you’re a fictional restaurant.
Rachel Chatterton, Food Development Director, Gousto said, “There's a clear link between food and entertainment—they are both highly emotional. Our Fictional Foodie Franchise ranking is a fun way to link these, drawing on inspiration from some of the delicious scenes in our favourite television shows.” She added, “Our study shows that there's no one clear 'recipe for success', it's much more complex than that and takes into account a number of factors."
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
