May 25, 2013
Industry News
Baskin-Robbins Welcomes Spring with New Chick Cake

Spring has arrived at Baskin-Robbins as the world’s largest chain of ice cream specialty shops announces the newest addition to its innovative selection of ice cream cakes – the Chick Cake. Also available this spring is the Chick Individual Treat, which is the perfect single serving partner to accompany Baskin-Robbins’...

Read Full Story // read more about: Baskin-Robbins, Menu Development, Food & Beverage, Menu Innovations
Industry News
Doc Popcorn 'Pops' New Cocoa Marshmallow Crunch Flavor

Doc Popcorn will pop a new Cocoa Marshmallow Crunch flavor. This new specialty flavor will be available for a limited time only at participating Doc Popcorn locations.

Read Full Story // read more about: Doc Popcorn, Menu Development, Food & Beverage, Menu Innovations
Industry News
Saladworks Introduces New LTO SpringFit Salad

Saladworks is pleased to announce its new spring seasonal salad, the SpringFit Salad, which will be available in all Saladworks locations from March 18 until May 26.

Read Full Story // read more about: Saladworks, Healthy Menus, Food & Beverage, Menu Innovations
Industry News
Carl's Jr. and Hardee's Unveil Jim Beam Bourbon Burger

In yet another fast food first, Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s will begin selling burgers with the taste of a branded, distilled spirit when they introduce the new Jim Beam Bourbon Burger. 

Read Full Story // read more about: Carl's Jr., Hardee's, Burgers, Food & Beverage, Menu Innovations
Menu Innovations
No Hike Here

Despite drought-driven food-price increases, quick serves are refusing to pass rising costs on to the customer, according to a recent survey by group purchasing firm SpenDifference. The study shows that more than one-quarter (26 percent) of restaurants maintained steady pricing in 2012, compared with 14 percent the year before. ...

Read Full Story // read more about: Panchero's, Point Of Sale
Industry News
Brands Battle Theft, Buddy-Punching With Biometrics

View a webinar on this topic, featuring first-hand experience from Hooters Employee theft may not be many brands’ No. 1 challenge in the ever-tenuous economic environment, but it’s a threat that exists in many forms. And quick serves across the industry are doing something about it, with the help of biometric...

Read Full Story // read more about: Popeyes, Smoothie King, Wingstop, Equipment, Operations, Point Of Sale
Industry News
Burger King Gets Spring Fever with New Burger Fest Menu

Whether you’re experiencing a case of spring fever or have been counting down the days awaiting the calendar’s “official” first day of spring, Burger King is ready to turn up the heat and celebrate the season with the new Burger Fest menu.  Burger King Worldwide unveiled a lineup of 12 menu items, ranging...

Read Full Story // read more about: Burger King, Beverage, Burgers, Desserts, Menu Development
Marc Halperin: Resident F&B Expert
Tweaking Fresh

Menu-development professionals for fast-food chains have probably watched enviously as some of their fast-casual competitors have unveiled salads that are both too elaborate and too expensive to replicate at their concepts.

Read Full Story // read more about: Au Bon Pain, Cosi, Healthy Menus, Menu Innovations, Ingredients & Dayparts
Small portions give customers control over health, values, and variety.
Menu Innovations
Small Portions a Big Idea

Small portions are very big these days.

Many 2013 trend predictions determined that small plates and snacking are expected to be popular among chefs and restaurant operators this year. While diners are still eating during the traditional meal times—breakfast, lunch, and dinner...

Read Full Story // read more about: Pei Wei, Qdoba, Starbucks, Taco Bell, Wendy's, White Castle, Wow Bao, Menu Development, Consumer Trends, Health, Ingredients & Dayparts
Restaurant operators learn valuable tips at restaurant industry's largest show.
Industry News
2013 NRA Show Guide
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Read Full Story // read more about: Cosi, Competition, Growth
NRA CEO Dawn Sweeney helps protect restaurant operators interests.
Executive Insights
The Advocate

The most powerful woman in the restaurant industry isn’t intimidating, nor is she larger than life. She isn’t cold, tight-lipped, terse, or abrasive. She doesn’t talk down to you. She doesn’t double-book you and cancel at the last second.

Certainly one might expect...

Read Full Story // read more about: Healthy Menus, Competition, Women in Foodservice, Growth
Food production systems like hydroponics help restaurants use more local goods.
Ingredients & Dayparts
Can Quick Serves Save the World?

No longer is local sourcing just a utopian ideal. It’s a practice coming to life and continually gaining momentum in foodservice, with the number of local ingredients on menus growing by 73 percent over the last four years, according to market research firm Mintel.

But, at its most...

Read Full Story // read more about: Chipotle, Mad Greens, Sloco, Green, In the Store, Consumer Trends, Menu Innovations
Celebrity chef Bobby Flay provides strong example of smart restaurant growth.
Alan Philips: Trends to Watch
Be Like Bobby

My idea of “inclusive exclusivity” started in a boardroom many years ago in Atlantic City, New Jersey. I was making a presentation to a group of executives at the Borgata Hotel, Casino, & Spa to explain how they could import the feel of New York’s hottest nightclubs and...

Read Full Story // read more about: Bobby's Burger Palace, Burgers, Growth
Industry News
Dunkin' Donuts Grows Healthy Menu With Turkey Sausage

Helping guests greet the warm weather with more smart choices, Dunkin’ Donuts announced a permanent addition to its DDSMART menu: the Turkey Sausage Breakfast Sandwich.

A breakfast sandwich option under 400 calories, the new sandwich features a fried egg topped with turkey sausage...

Read Full Story // read more about: Dunkin' Donuts, Breakfast, Healthy Menus, Menu Development, Sandwiches
Industry News
Offering Value Isn't Enough; Taco Bell Wants to Redefine It

It may seem like a lofty goal, but Taco Bell is dead set on not only redefining value at the quick-service level, but also delivering it to consumers in a variety of ways.

Specifically, the brand is focusing on four key areas: the low- and high-price end of the menu, new menus and...

Read Full Story // read more about: Taco Bell, Menu Development, Executive Insights, Promotions
Low calorie menu options boost quick service restaurant sales.
Health
Slimmer Items, Hefty Sales

The lower the calorie counts in restaurant menu items, the better for business, according to recent research by public policy research organization Hudson Institute.

The report analyzed 21 of the nation’s largest restaurant chains, including quick-service brands like McDonald’...

Read Full Story // read more about: Healthy Menus, Consumer Trends, Menu Innovations, Ingredients & Dayparts
Operators must protect their quick serve business from credit card fraud.
Point Of Sale
How to Prevent Credit Card Fraud

Every merchant that accepts credit and debit cards is required to be compliant with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards (DSS), whose next set of standards will be released in October 2013. Yet despite these compliance requirements, the food and beverage industry had the...

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Women leaders like Flatbread Grill's owners successfully launch new brands.
Finance
Cleared for Launch

Starting any business can be a difficult prospect, but in an industry where men have historically outnumbered women, the roadblocks to doing so can be even more challenging when you’re female.

For many female foodservice entrepreneurs, being taken seriously as a business owner is...

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Superfoods like whole grains and oatmeal offer healthy menu alternative.
Healthy Menus
The Other Side of Super

Superfoods have swept the culinary world into a frenzy, enticing consumers with a taste of the exotic and courting them with nutrition and functionality, to the point where restaurants across the country are trying to stake a claim in this fledgling movement.

Quick-service restaurants are...

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The Boston Fire Department was treated to free meals at Firehouse Subs.
Charitable Giving
Nurturing Boston

As soon as he learned about the April 15th Boston bombings, Dave Tucci, the New England area representative for Firehouse Subs’ DMA, called the Firehouse franchisee closest to the bombings.

Tucci was relieved to find out that all employees at Firehouse’s Copley Square location...

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Fast casual brands attract customers with alcoholic beverage programs
Beverage
Buying into Booze

Fast-casual restaurants were once able to claim premium food, modern décor, and all-around upscale service as hallmarks of their category. But with more quick-service chains retooling in those areas to compete for post-recession consumers, fast casuals have been left to search for new ways to...

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Innovations like the Marinara Tower were featured on the NRA Show floor.
Back of House
Recapping the NRA Show

As the lights went out on the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show (NRA Show) in Chicago on Tuesday, there was plenty to consider about the future of the industry.

The show featured no shortage of technological advancements, not just in computing hardware...

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McAlisters Deli franchisee says casual dining experience helps in quick service.
Sandwiches
What You Can Learn from Casual Dining

David Blackburn has been in the foodservice business his entire adult life. Since 1979, the McAlister’s Deli franchisee has cataloged more than 25 years of experience in the casual-dining sector, spending 16 of those as regional vice president of operations at O’Charley’s....

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Corner Bakery's new menu items use fresh ingredients to offer premium quality.
Breakfast
The Corner of Innovation

In a push to distinguish itself from growing competition in the fast-casual bakery-café space, Corner Bakery Café is doubling down on menu innovation.

The 22-year-old, Dallas-based chain recently leveraged its high-quality kitchen equipment and capabilities, as well as more than 40 fresh...

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