THE FILM

The way America eats is changing. We want better options. We want better ingredients. We want better sourcing. We want better experiences. We want food with a story — and we want it fast. The last four decades of fast food is fading and now we're making room for a new culture of good food: fast casual. What is fast casual? Follow Paul Barron, the pioneer who coined the term "fast casual" in 1993, in this documentary that has been 10 years in the making and dig into the stories of the iconic leaders and game-changers who are transforming the movement of our restaurants and the future of our food.

THE SEGMENT THAT CONSUMERS CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF

Paul Barron started pioneering the fast casual segment in 1993, long before it became mainstream in 2003-2004. However, the fast casual darling, Chipotle only opened its first location outside Colorado in 1999. Since then fast casual chains have been rapidly on the rise. So far in 2014, DigitalCoCo tracked more than 600 fast casual brands and that is projected to increase to 700 by mid 2015. The potential for this segment seems limitless, with a restaurant industry accounting for 700 billion industry, fast casual currently only occupies 50 billion of that.

With the fast casual concept changing and influencing the landscape of the entire restaurant industry, there is no better time than now to hold up a microscope and analyze the major players, trends, and influences in the segment.