Restaurants see green
Healthy salads fuel cash registers at fast-food chains
After years of searching for the Next Big Thing and struggling through a two-year slump, the fast-food industry is hitting pay dirt with salads.
Salad sales at the nation’s fast-food restaurants are up 12 percent in 2003 over the same period last year, according to the NPD Group, a New York market research firm that tracks the food and beverage industry. Overall salad consumption increased 2 percent.
And salads at fast-food restaurants are becoming meals, not mere side orders, NPD said. Nor are they cheap. While combo meals — a sandwich, fries and soft drink — start on average around $3.99, the salads begin at $4.29 without a beverage.
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