How Branded Desserts Can Drive Demand and Revenue
Discover the consumer trends, commercial opportunities, and menu inspiration shaping quick service restaurant desserts in 2026.
Discover what’s next for QSR desserts
Consumers are becoming more considered about when and where they spend, putting pressure on quick service restaurants to give people compelling reasons to visit, treat themselves and come back.
But that challenge also creates an opportunity.
Our 2026 Quick Service Restaurant Report explores how desserts, branded collaborations, flavour innovation and limited-time offers can help operators create greater excitement, strengthen perceived value and ultimately drive demand.
The QSR opportunity in 2026
QSR visits are under pressure. Research cited in the report found that UK fast-food restaurant traffic fell 1.2% in the first three months of 2026, while quick-service burger traffic fell 2.6%.
Consumers are balancing value, health and convenience more carefully, and alternatives such as supermarket meal deals, bakeries, independents and eating at home are competing for the same occasions.
Yet treating remains important.
Our research suggests QSR operators can respond not simply by adding more choice, but by making familiar favourites more distinctive, desirable and worth the spend. Desserts provide an opportunity to create that sense of occasion through recognised brands, new flavours, promotions and limited-time offers.
Three numbers QSR operators should know
Compared with 71% for the unbranded alternative
Compared with 59% for the unbranded concept
How can QSRs turn trends into sales?
Elevate familiar favourites
Innovation does not always require an entirely new menu item. Familiar formats such as cookies, muffins, brownies, doughnuts, ice creams and hot drinks can be refreshed through new toppings, textures, flavour combinations and branded ingredients.
Use brands to create familiarity
Brands including KITKAT®, AERO®, SMARTIES® and ROLO® can bring recognition and established flavour expectations to new dessert concepts, helping operators balance familiarity with innovation. The research found branded concepts generally performed more positively than unbranded alternatives across quality, taste, innovation and shareability.
Create a reason to act now
Limited-time offers, seasonal launches and exclusive collaborations can give consumers a reason to try something new without adding permanent menu complexity. Social media can amplify that excitement too, with TikTok and Instagram encouraging trial of new and popular desserts, particularly among Gen Z.
Rethink what value means
Value is not only about being cheaper. For today’s QSR consumer, a purchase also needs to deliver quality, enjoyment or a sense of occasion that makes the spend feel worthwhile. That opens the door for desserts that feel distinctive and premium while retaining familiar flavours.
What you'll discover in the full report
The 2026 Quick Service Restaurant Report brings together consumer insight, quantitative research and practical inspiration for QSR operators.
- Why QSR visit frequency is under pressure
- How consumers are redefining value
- When and why consumers still choose a dessert
- How branded and unbranded concepts perform
- The potential commercial impact of branded desserts
- The role of limited-time offers and seasonal innovation
- Emerging flavours that could inspire your next menu launch
- Practical ideas for moving a dessert trend from trend to till
Download the 2026 Quick Service Restaurant Report
Explore the insights, trends and menu inspiration that could help shape your next QSR dessert innovation.