Fast Food Industry

Fast food is mass-produced food designed for commercial resale with a strong priority on speed of service, sold in a restaurant or store using frozen, preheated or precooked ingredients and typically served in packaging for takeout. Major chains rely on standardized, pre-prepared ingredients, such as frozen beef patties and pre-washed, pre-sliced vegetables, shipped from central facilities to individual outlets and assembled to order, with the drive-through long serving as a defining feature of the format. The industry traces its practical origins to street food stands in Ancient Rome, but the modern business crystallized in post-war America once automobiles became widespread, beginning with White Castle first hamburger chain outlet in 1921; by 2018 the global fast-food industry was worth an estimated 570 billion dollars, and McDonald alone operated more than 31,000 restaurants across 126 countries.