May 23, 2013
Industry News
For Le Duff, Growth is All the Rage

Only a little more than a month into 2013, Le Duff America—the world’s second-largest restaurant company in the bakery café segment, with brands like Bruegger’s Bagels and la Madeleine Country French Café in its portfolio—can already tell it’s going to be a big year. For starters, it recently purchased...

Read Full Story // read more about: Bruegger's, La Madeleine, Breakfast, Finance, Franchising, Growth, Fast Casual
Industry News
Burger 21 Proves Customers Crave Diversity

Burger 21, a better-burger franchise founded by the owners of The Melting Pot Restaurants, with five locations open and 10 in development on the East Coast, is giving customers what they crave in a burger: diversity. The brand unveiled an infographic highlighting how its guests are buying into better burgers through its variety...

Read Full Story // read more about: Burger 21, Burgers, Consumer Trends, Franchising, Growth, Fast Casual
Industry News
Restaurant Industry Job Growth Hits 17-Year High in 2012

The restaurant industry added jobs at double the rate of the overall economy in 2012, and the National Restaurant Association (NRA) expects this trend to continue in 2013.  Eating and drinking places added jobs at a robust 3.4 percent rate last year, the strongest increase in 17 years, according to NRA’s analysis of new...

Read Full Story // read more about: Outside Insights, Growth
Industry News
Science: The Next Big Ingredient

Quick-serve menus may start taking cues from the science lab as operators increasingly experiment with high-tech cooking methods like molecular gastronomy. Molecular gastronomy, which blends technical food science and practical kitchen techniques, has been offered on exclusive fine-dining menus for more than two decades. Now, however,...

Read Full Story // read more about: Panera Bread, Sub Zero Ice Cream & Yogurt, Back of House, Burgers, Desserts, Kitchen, Menu Development, Menu Innovations
Industry News
Spanish Fro-Yo Concept Brings Out Guests' Inner Kid

For one young frozen-yogurt brand, age is just a number. Yooglers, an international self-serve fro-yo concept—which opened its first location in Madrid, Spain, in 2011—has set up its first stateside shop in New York City’s Union Square. And according to Manuel Fernandez, president of Otsu Group and Yooglers, Union...

Read Full Story // read more about: Yooglers, Design, Desserts, Growth, Emerging Concepts
Industry News
Charleys Unveils Pepperoni Steak Bomb Sandwich

Charleys restaurants has introduced the Pepperoni Steak Bomb for a limited-time only, just in time for Valentine’s Day.

Read Full Story // read more about: Charley's Grilled Subs, Charleys Philly Steaks, Sandwiches, Food & Beverage, Menu Innovations
Industry News
Placon Sees Clearly Now with Anti-Fog Lids

Continuing to expand and enhance its food packaging lines, Placon—a U.S. thermoformer of custom and stock food containers, retail and medical device packaging, and recycled PET materials—announced that it is rolling out its new anti-fog lid technology on its entire line of PET cold deli food packaging products. ...

Read Full Story // read more about: Packaging
In the Store
Back to the Beverage Basics

Gordon Muir had an epiphany while looking through old photos of The Varsity, an Atlanta-based quick-serve chain established in 1928 by his grandfather Frank Gordy. In the photos, he saw in-store banners and buttons advertising the brand’s noncarbonated beverage, Varsity Orange. “And I thought, ‘Man, we’re not...

Read Full Story // read more about: The Varsity, Beverage, Marketing
Industry News
Alaska Seafood Goes Vintage with Marketing Materials

Capture the delicious heritage of wild Alaska cod with new merchandising materials from the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI).

Inspired by the tradition of Alaska's fisheries, this vintage-inspired creative evokes the energy and dedication that have been passed down for...

Read Full Story // read more about: Marketing
Industry News
McD's Franchisees Make the Switch to Automated Oil Management

It took some time for McDonald’s area supervisor Andy Suckiel to embrace automated oil management for the two California franchises he oversees in San Juan Capistrano and San Clemente, California.

Now with four years of experience using Restaurant Technologies, Inc. (RTI) oil...

Read Full Story // read more about: McDonald's, Equipment, Food Safety
Industry News
Sublime Doughnuts Open Up Shop for Franchising

Sublime Doughnuts, Atlanta’s award-winning doughnut shop, announced plans to open franchise opportunities for interested investors.

Sublime Doughnuts is owned by Culinary Institute of America graduate Kamal Grant. Grant opened Sublime Doughnuts in 2008 in the eclectic West Midtown...

Read Full Story // read more about: Sublime Doughnuts, Desserts, Franchising, Growth
Industry News
Small Businesses Get a Shot at $82M Credit Line

Business Financial Services (BFS), a leading specialty finance company since 2002, announced a new $82 million credit facility provided by Wells Fargo Capital Finance, part of Wells Fargo & Company.

The new credit line, which replaces a smaller facility with another lender, bolsters...

Read Full Story // read more about: Finance, Growth
Industry News
Dunkin’ Intros New Coolatta Frozen Beverage Flavors

As temperatures start to heat up, Dunkin’ Donuts, America’s all-day, everyday stop for coffee and baked goods, is helping people chill out by introducing three cool new Coolatta frozen beverage flavors: Berry Blast, Raspberry Lime, and Minute Maid Orange.  

Read Full Story // read more about: Dunkin' Donuts, Beverage, Food & Beverage, Menu Innovations
Industry News
Barberitos Franchising Grows to 48 Locations

Barberitos Franchising Inc. is excited to announce that it has signed five more locations in the Southeast. This brings the total number of franchised Barberitos locations to 48.

Read Full Story // read more about: Barberitos, Operations, Franchising, Growth
Industry News
Dairy Queen Delivers Choco Peanut Butter Brownie

The Dairy Queen system is serving up a new, decadent Choco Peanut Butter Brownie as the featured Blizzard of the Month for May.

A smooth blend of peanut butter, choco chunks, and brownie pieces tumbled with DQsignature creamy vanilla soft serve, Choco Peanut Butter Brownieis available...

Read Full Story // read more about: Dairy Queen, Desserts, Menu Development
Industry News
Oklahoma Sonic Unit Makes Ordering a Breeze for Truckers

Sonic Drive-In in Valliant, Oklahoma, wants people to know, “Truckers Welcome!”

This message scrolls across a large banner in front of the drive-in, and local franchisees, Tommy and Julie Dorries, have gone to great lengths to deliver a unique experience for truck drivers in a...

Read Full Story // read more about: Sonic, Beverage, Design, Digital Signage & Menuboards
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...

See More
Secure quick serve restaurants improve sales and have high return on investment.
Back of House
Safety, Security, Sales

Traditionally, when quick serves plan security strategies, they address three main industry challenges: prevent shrinkage, guard against in-store and drive-thru robbery, and protect the company from fraudulent lawsuits. Operators need to carefully examine security solutions that will provide the...

See More
Tin Drum Asia Cafe used equity firm investment to stay debt free in growth.
Finance
Striking Gold

Steven Chan’s business was at a crossroads last year. His Atlanta-based fast casual Tin Drum AsiaCafé launched in 2000, sold its first franchise in 2001, and was growing slowly due to Chan’s determination to keep it debt-free. At the beginning of 2012, Tin Drum had 10 franchises in...

See More
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...

See More
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...

See More
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...

See More
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...

See More
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....

See More
 
Roy Bergold: Tales from McDonald’s
The Kids’ Meal Compromise

Recently I was talking with Barry Klein, an old friend of mine who was one of the original advertising guys at McDonald’s. He is a marketing consultant now with a large interest in kids marketing. We were discussing the kids’ meal situation and the critics who claim these meals are responsible for our childhood obesity problems.

Barry has a heated position that I would like to share with you, and then I’ll share my comments as well.

Barry: Restaurant operators, which way will you go?

Read Full Story // read more about: McDonald's, Healthy Menus, Women in Foodservice, Promotions, Ingredients & Dayparts