The survey also reported that the average chain has added five to seven new items this year. The 224 casual chains in the MenuMine Database have added 1408 new items so far this year, which equals an average of 6.3 items per chain. Fast casual chains, with 80 chains represented in MenuMine, are the most aggressive, adding an average of 7.1 new items. QSR chains added an average of 4.5 new items per chain and Midscale chains added an average of 6.0 new items.
Breads and proteins were the most commonly added ingredient in new items, both appearing in 48 percent of new items.