Food Courts: More Than Reflecting What We Eat, They Reveal How We Compete

A SiiLA analysis shows how market concentration, category composition, and tenant mix shape the competitive dynamics of Mexico’s leading food courts.

Scott Mezvinsky leads KFC, the dominant chain in the chicken and wings category across Mexican food courts. Photo: SiiLA.

By: SiiLA News

07/23/2026

Burgers, Asian cuisine, and Mexican cuisine account for nearly 60% of the gross leasable area in food courts across the leading shopping centers in Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey. Yet that dominance does not mean only a handful of chains control these categories.

A SiiLA analysis of more than 1,000 food and beverage locations operated by 367 brands shows that the categories with the largest presence in food courts are also among the market’s most competitive.

The contrast illustrates the difference. While the Asian cuisine category includes 94 brands and no operator accounts for as much as 10% of its locations, other segments, such as chicken and wings, are far more concentrated. In that category, KFC controls roughly 56% of both the establishments and the gross leasable area.

Shopping center literature has shown that tenant mix is not simply about offering more choices, but about balancing a variety of concepts with competition among operators offering similar products. From that perspective, understanding which categories dominate the food court—and how competition is distributed within them—adds another dimension to understanding its commercial structure.

Overall, food categories can be grouped into three segments based on their level of concentration¹. The most fragmented categories—Asian cuisine, Mexican cuisine, and desserts and ice cream—account for 43% of all locations and 40% of the gross leasable area analyzed. Together, they include 195 operators, with none holding a dominant position. The intermediate categories—burgers, pizza and pasta, coffee and bakery, and salads—represent another 41% of locations and 42% of gross leasable area. These categories include 122 operators, where a handful of chains hold the largest market shares, although competition remains spread across multiple brands. Finally, the most concentrated categories—chicken and wings, snacks and confectionery, beverages, and Latin American cuisine—account for the remaining 16% of locations and 18% of gross leasable area. Together, they include 50 operators.

A larger commercial footprint does not necessarily mean less competition.

Despite the differences across categories, the food court market remains highly competitive. Across all food courts analyzed, the five largest chains account for just 19% of all locations and less than one-quarter of the gross leasable area, while the remaining 362 brands make up the rest of the market². This pattern is consistent across Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey, where none exhibits high levels of market concentration.

Similar levels of concentration, however, do not mean the three markets have the same composition. Although they share the same leading food categories, the relative weight of each varies by city. A similarity analysis using the Bray-Curtis distance—which compares the relative composition of markets—shows that Mexico City and Monterrey have more similar category profiles, while Guadalajara exhibits a composition that differs from both. In Mexico City, gross leasable area is concentrated primarily in Asian cuisine and burgers; in Monterrey, Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine dominates; and in Guadalajara, leadership is distributed more evenly among the leading categories: Mexican cuisine, burgers, Asian cuisine, and coffee shops.

Similar competitive structures do not imply identical commercial offerings.

Taken together, the findings show that the competitive structure of a food court depends both on the intensity of competition within each category and on the combination of categories that make up each market’s commercial offering. Consequently, the presence of a dominant category alone does not determine either the level of competition or the diversity of operators a food court can accommodate.

At the same time, the concentration level of each category has different implications for tenant mix management. In the more fragmented segments, supply is distributed among numerous operators with similar market shares, reducing dependence on any single brand and expanding replacement options. By contrast, in the more concentrated categories, a significant portion of the market is controlled by only a few chains, meaning their entry, exit, or expansion can significantly alter the composition and competitive balance of a food court.

For more analysis on shopping centers and Mexico’s commercial real estate market, visit SiiLA Market Analytics or contact us at contacto@siila.com.mx.

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¹ The classification was based on SiiLA’s food and beverage taxonomy for food court analysis, grouping establishments according to the type of food they offer. Each category’s concentration level was determined using the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) and the cumulative market share of the leading chains. The effective number of competitors and gross leasable area were used as complementary indicators.

² Across all food courts analyzed, the HHI was 131 based on the number of locations and 175 based on gross leasable area. The three largest chains accounted for 13.4% of locations and 16.4% of gross leasable area (CR3), while the five largest accounted for 19.0% and 23.8%, respectively (CR5). By city, the HHI based on the number of locations was 204 in Mexico City, 216 in Guadalajara, and 221 in Monterrey; based on gross leasable area, it was 255, 305, and 259, respectively.

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