QSR magazine

What QSR magazine does

QSR Magazine is a B2B trade publication covering the $350 billion quick-service and fast-casual restaurant industry in the United States, serving QSR operators, franchisees, executives, and the suppliers and service providers that sell into the vertical. Founded in 1999 and operated by WTWH Media, LLC, the publication has defined the QSR market for approximately 25 years and operates from a small editorial team of 1-10 employees based in Chapel Hill/Cleveland. Its editorial coverage spans food, growth, operations, franchising, and technology across fast food, fast casual, coffee, snacks, and concessions.

The product portfolio is multi-format and vertically integrated: the flagship QSR Magazine and digital editions; the QSR Uncut podcast; the daily A.M. Jolt newsletter; the annual QSREvolution Conference and the Nextgen Restaurant Summit; recurring On24-powered webinars and the CEO to CEO virtual series; and flagship research assets including the annual QSR 50 ranking, Digital Disruptors, and the Drive-Thru Report. Underlying technology is a standard digital publishing platform with a content management system, supplemented by an "Ask Our AI Anything" search interface; no proprietary AI product or API platform is offered.

Monetization relies on three streams: advertising and sponsored content (including native sponsored articles from suppliers), recurring subscriptions to magazine content, newsletters, and special reports, and events and webinars (QSREvolution Conference, Nextgen Restaurant Summit, and virtual programming). Pricing is not publicly disclosed. The publication is a wholly owned asset of WTWH Media, LLC alongside sister title FSR Magazine; in 2026, QSR and FSR jointly won the SIIA Jesse H. Neal Award for Best DEI Coverage for their Women in Restaurant Leadership issues.

Name

QSR magazine

Legal name

WTWH Media, LLC

Website

https://qsrmagazine.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

QSR Magazine is a B2B trade publication operated by WTWH Media that covers the $350 billion U.S. quick-service and fast-casual restaurant industry through a magazine, daily newsletter, podcast, research reports, and an annual conference, serving operators, franchisees, and industry suppliers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Trade Publication / Business Media

NAICS

Periodical Publishers (513120), Periodical Publishers (51312)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Business, Finance & Industry Trade Magazines (MPAJAEAM)

Keywords

• Trade publication
• Restaurant industry news
• Foodservice media
• Business journalism
• Industry conferences

Headquarters

HQ city

Chapel Hill

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Advertising and Sponsored Content: Sponsored content sections and advertising placements on the QSR Magazine website and publications, featuring sponsored articles from industry suppliers and partners.
2. Subscriptions: Subscription-based access to QSR Magazine content, newsletters, and special reports for industry professionals.
3. Events and Webinars: Revenue generated from the annual QSREvolution Conference, webinars, and related event programming.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

QSR Magazine is a B2B trade publication that delivers news, executive interviews, franchise development insights, marketing strategies, and technology trends for the $350 billion U.S. quick-service and fast-casual restaurant industry. Its offerings include daily editorial content on qsrmagazine.com, the QSR Uncut podcast, the A.M. Jolt daily newsletter, the QSR 50 annual ranking, downloadable special reports, digital magazine editions, and the annual QSREvolution Conference. The publication is owned and produced by WTWH Media, LLC.

Product overview

QSR Magazine is a trade publication operated by WTWH Media that delivers in-depth reporting on the quick-service and fast-casual restaurant industry. The publication has been defining this market for 25 years. The portfolio includes the core QSR Magazine, sister publication FSR Magazine, the QSR Uncut Podcast, the QSREvolution Conference, annual research reports including The QSR 50 ranking, and Special Reports covering specific industry topics. The company does not offer a technology product platform or API services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• QSR Uncut: Podcast covering quick-service and fast casual restaurant industry news and trends
• A.M. Jolt
• QSR 50
• QSR Digital Disruptors

Products and services

• QSR Magazine (Digital Publication) The primary QSR Magazine website and publication, delivering daily news, executive interviews, franchise development insights, marketing strategies, and technology trends for quick-service and fast-casual restaurant industry professionals.
• QSR Uncut Podcast
• QSREvolution Conference
• The QSR 50 Annual Ranking Report
• QSR Special Reports
• QSR Digital Editions
• A.M. Jolt Newsletter

Quantifiable outcome

• 2026 Jesse H. Neal Award for Best DEI Coverage

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered parent and sibling.

• WTWH MediaparentOthersQSR Magazine is published by WTWH Media, LLC, a B2B media company. WTWH Media also publishes related restaurant industry publications including FSR Magazine, PizzaMarketplace.com, and CSD (Convenience Store Decisions), and organizes events including the QSREvolution Conference and NextGen Restaurant Summit.
• FSR MagazinesiblingOthersSister publication under WTWH Media covering the full-service restaurant industry. QSR and FSR share editorial coverage including the Women in Restaurant Leadership initiative and jointly won the 2026 Jesse H. Neal Award for Best DEI Coverage.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Nation's Restaurant News: Legacy B2B trade publication covering the full restaurant industry including QSR, fast casual, and full-service. Operated by Informa, it is the most established direct competitor to QSR Magazine for restaurant operator and supplier readership and ad budgets.
• Restaurant Business: Winsight Media's flagship restaurant trade title covering chains, operators, and the broader foodservice industry. Directly competes with QSR Magazine for QSR and fast-casual operator and supplier audience and event sponsorship.
• FSR Magazine: Sister publication under WTWH Media covering the full-service restaurant segment. Directly comparable business model and audience monetization, and jointly publishes the Women in Restaurant Leadership initiative with QSR.
• FastCasual.com: Trade publication focused specifically on the fast-casual restaurant segment — a core QSR Magazine coverage vertical. Overlaps in audience (fast-casual operators and suppliers) and competes for the same sponsored content and newsletter ad dollars.
• Pizza Marketplace: Sister publication under WTWH Media covering the pizza segment. Shares the same publisher infrastructure, ad sales motion, and event portfolio (Nextgen Restaurant Summit) as QSR Magazine, making it the closest internal comparable.
• Modern Restaurant Management (MRM): Digital-first B2B restaurant trade publication covering operators, technology, and management topics. Targets the same QSR and full-service operator readership as QSR Magazine through a digital-native content and newsletter model.
• Restaurant Hospitality: Established B2B restaurant trade publication covering the full-service and QSR industries. Direct competitor for restaurant operator and supplier advertising and an editorial benchmark in the same category as QSR Magazine.

Broad incumbents

• Foodservice Director: B2B foodservice trade publication targeting non-commercial operators (institutional, healthcare, education) with partial overlap into commercial QSR. Comparable business model and audience monetization approach.
• Networld Media Group: Operator of multiple restaurant and retail B2B media properties including FastCasual.com and Pizza Marketplace competitors. Comparable multi-title trade media portfolio structure and revenue model to WTWH Media's restaurant titles.

Emerging players

• Technomic: Restaurant industry research and advisory firm providing data, insights, and forecasting to QSR operators and suppliers. Competes with QSR Magazine's research products (QSR 50, Digital Disruptors) for high-value QSR decision-maker budgets and represents the data-driven evolution of trade media.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/qsrmagazine
• Facebookfacebook.com/QSRmagazine
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/qsrmagazine

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about QSR magazine