UNITED STATES – Salads are gaining ground on fast food sales, leading to increased menu presence.

Bloomberg reports that in an earnings call this month, Wendy’s Chief Executive, Emil Brolick, named salads among the things that helped boost its same store sales by 3.3% in the second quarter.  In March, the burger chain added two salads to its permanent menu and is currently featuring a third summer salad entrée.

Though it is still a small category in overall fast food sales, both side salads and entrée salad sales are increasing.  In the 12 months ending in May, national burger supplied almost 500 million orders with main or side salads. According to Wendy’s, the company’s main salad sales increased 5% in the 12 months ending in May.

Researcher NPD predicts that fast food salad consumption will continue to increase among millennials with entrée salads taking the lead, according to Bloomberg.  

With this increase in salad sales and McDonald’s adding fresh fruits to happy meals, fresh produce continues to make its way to the fast food lane.  I am very interested to see how far this trend might go.