June 19, 2013
Industry News
Qdoba's Mango Salad LTO is Back

Qdoba Mexican Grill kicks off summer early with the return of its popular, limited-time Mango Salad. The Mango Salad will be available in all restaurants starting May 6, while supplies last. Qdoba’s Mango Salad features mango salsa, which is packed with a combination of mangos, cucumbers, and red bell peppers, served over a bed of...

Read Full Story // read more about: Qdoba, Healthy Menus, Menu Innovations
Executive Insights
Under the Wing

Early on in his career, Jim Amos, chairman and former CEO of Tasti D-Lite, would make it his mission to track down his mentor, a business leader who hated flying so much that he would drive his personal coach around the country to various meetings and engagements. “I would call his secretary and find out where he was, and I would...

Read Full Story // read more about: Jack in the Box, Tasti D-Lite, Human Resources
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’s, Wendy’s, and Burger King. It found that...

Read Full Story // read more about: Healthy Menus, Consumer Trends, Menu Innovations, Ingredients & Dayparts
Industry News
Perkins Puts On a New Face with Remodeled Restaurants

Perkins Restaurant & Bakery announced a remodeling initiative that will be seeded in more than 20 corporate locations during the first half of 2013, with franchise restaurants to follow shortly thereafter.  The culmination of extensive research conducted across the country, Perkins remodelpackage—developed by...

Read Full Story // read more about: Perkins, Design
Industry News
Rita's Italian Ice and Strawberry Starburst Unite

Rita’s Italian Ice, the nation’s largest Italian Ice concept with more than 625 outlets in 20 states, announced tit has partnered with STARBURST on Rita’s newest Ice flavor.  STARBURST Strawberry Ice will be available for a limited time at all open Rita’s Ice outlets through Tuesday, May 21, 2013.  ...

Read Full Story // read more about: Rita's Italian Ice, Desserts, Menu Development, Promotions
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 promotions, and limited-time offers, said Chris Brandt,...

Read Full Story // read more about: Taco Bell, Menu Development, Executive Insights, Promotions
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 such a person to be and do any number of those...

Read Full Story // read more about: Healthy Menus, Competition, Women in Foodservice, Growth
Franchising
Lessons in Longevity

Paul Hironimus turned 80 years old in January. Like so many other franchisees, Hironimus, a Long Beach City College graduate, began his professional career outside the quick-service industry, serving as a draftsman in Los Angeles. Nine years after graduating, in the early ’60s, Hironimus took an interest in Wienerschnitzel, which...

Read Full Story // read more about: Wienerschnitzel, Back of House, In the Store, Promotions
Fast casual brands attract customers with alcoholic beverage programs
Menu Innovations
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...

Read Full Story // read more about: Blaze Pizza, Chipotle, Freebirds, Fresh to Order, Starbucks, Uncle Maddio's, Beverage, Menu Development, Competition, Consumer Trends, Ingredients & Dayparts
Superfoods like blueberries offer nutritional and flavorful menu potential.
Menu Innovations
Wonder Food

Look, up on the table! It’s a burdock. It’s a plantain. It’s … superfood!

Although there’s nothing really super-heroic about eating nutrition-rich fruits and vegetables, the foods give customers an opportunity to pursue healthier options at a time when many...

Read Full Story // read more about: Bowl of Heaven, Freshii, Just Salad, Red Mango, Healthy Menus, Menu Development, Health, Ingredients & Dayparts
New fast food brands like Live Basil first start as innovative business ideas.
Industry News
Birth of a Brand

It always starts with a simple idea.

For Brian Bailey at Ichor Restaurant Group, it began with the idea that Ohioans needed better barbecue. Six years after that idea initially took hold, Old Carolina Barbecue opened the doors to its first unit, in Canton, Ohio. The company later opened...

Read Full Story // read more about: Fazoli's, Little Greek, Live Basil, Old Carolina Barbecue Company, Back of House, Finance, Marketing, Operations, Competition, In the Store, Growth
Ice cream brands are increasing innovation to take business back from fro yo.
Consumer Trends
Can Ice Cream Survive?

They seemed to pop up almost overnight. In strip malls and on street corners across the country, frozen-yogurt shops suddenly offered an exciting new option for America’s collective sweet tooth, teasing at healthfulness and innovating with self service and customization. Once concentrated...

Read Full Story // read more about: Baskin-Robbins, Cold Stone Creamery, Jeni's, Sloan's, Desserts, Competition, Menu Innovations, Ingredients & Dayparts
Quick service brands are using big data to streamline and improve business.
Operations
Get a Grip on Big Data

Franchisees, C-suite executives, and marketing experts in the limited-service industry have likely all come across the term big data in some form or another over the last couple of years.

But unless their background or interests lie in analytics or statistics, they probably shrugged it...

Read Full Story // read more about: Haute Dogs & Fries, Jamba Juice, Back of House, Back Office, In the Store, Consumer Trends
Wrap concept BSkis in Chapel Hill successfully delivers food to campus students.
Industry News
Signed, Sealed, Delivered

Burger King hopes its new delivery service will be a great profit-driver for the chain, as the company is banking on customers to put in large orders for office lunches, birthday parties, and other gatherings in the select cities where the service is offered.

But it may not be the only...

Read Full Story // read more about: Burger King, McDonald's, [B]Ski's, Back of House, Online & Remote Ordering, Consumer Trends
Industry News
Toppers Boosts System-Wide Sales by 40% in Q1

Despite the crowded pizza category, Toppers Pizza is taking its share of the more than $40 billion pie.

System-wide sales increased by more than 40 percent for both company-owned and franchised units in the first quarter of 2013, and same-store sales for company units were up 13.59...

Read Full Story // read more about: Toppers Pizza, Finance, Marketing, Pizza, Franchising, Growth
Costa Vida offers fresh Mexican ingredients in a laid back fast casual setting.
Emerging Concepts
One to Watch: Costa Vida Fresh Mexican Grill

A decade ago, JD and Sarah Gardner returned home to Utah from a trip to Cabo San Lucas, inspired by the surfing culture and local cuisine of the Baja Peninsula Coast. Soon after, the pair opened Costa Vida Fresh Mexican Grill.

Read Full Story // read more about: Costa Vida Fresh Mexican Grill, In the Store, Franchising, Growth
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
A Wing Zone franchisee changed his cooking equipment to get better results.
Back of House
The Transformational Franchisee

Army and Air Force foodservice provider The Exchange has been serving U.S. military families since 1895 with meals in cafeteria lines and snack bars. It wasn’t until 1985, however, that it first signed a license agreement with a name-brand food franchisee—at the time, Burger King.

See More
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
Five to Seven will invest in healthy and sustainble fast food brands globally.
Finance
Good Food for All

Five to Seven, a new restaurant funding initiative launched in May by foodservice industry veterans Brad Blum and John Vincent, has goodness at its core and as its goal. “Good food for the planet” is the initiative’s tagline, as Blum and Vincent want “good food”...

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 blueberries offer nutritional and flavorful menu potential.
Healthy Menus
Wonder Food

Look, up on the table! It’s a burdock. It’s a plantain. It’s … superfood!

Although there’s nothing really super-heroic about eating nutrition-rich fruits and vegetables, the foods give customers an opportunity to pursue healthier options at a time when many...

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
A new tool from GS1 U.S. will help operators protect their food safety.
Food Safety
Cracking the Food Safety Code

For years, barcode technology has been commonplace in the retail sector, where it’s used to gather information about products, sales, and even consumer trends at various transaction points. But now, due to a major standardization initiative and broadening food-safety concerns, the same...

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
 
Industry News
SPIN! Pizza Touted by Local Missouri Publications

SPIN! Neapolitan Pizza has been named best pizza by two local publications in Missouri. Both Kansas City Magazine and 435 South Magazine have awarded SPIN! top honors in their annual “City’s Best” issues.

Kansas City Magazinereported that SPIN! was “far and away” the leader in its readers’ votes. The repeat awards join a raft of local and national awards that SPIN! has accrued for its food and environs since opening its first location in 2005.

Read Full Story // read more about: SPIN! Neapolitan Pizza, Design, Pizza, Women in Foodservice, Franchising, Growth, Ingredients & Dayparts
Industry News
Dickey's Barbecue Pit Serves Up $1 Pulled-Pork Sandwiches

Dickey’s franchise owners Peggy and Joe Anicka have enjoyed serving the Commerce Township, Michigan, community slow, pit-smoked barbecue.

On Friday, January 25, Dickey's will be offering $1 Pulled Pork Big Barbecue sandwiches from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in honor of its grand-opening celebration.

Read Full Story // read more about: Dickey's Barbecue Pit, Marketing, Women in Foodservice, Franchising, Promotions, Growth
Industry News
Cousins Subs Makes it Better with New Foundation

Cousins Subs restaurants has established The Make It Better Foundation to improve the welfare and quality of life in the communities Cousins Subs serves.

"Cousins Subs has a longstanding tradition of commitment to the communities we serve," says Christine Specht, president and COO at Cousins Subs. "We have supported a multitude of causes and organizations throughout our 40-year history. By establishing The Make It Better Foundation, we hope we can do even more."

Read Full Story // read more about: Cousins Subs, Charitable Giving, Sandwiches, Women in Foodservice
Industry News
Nancy Clark Joins Fiesta Restaurant Group as Chief People Officer

Fiesta Restaurant Group, the owner, operator, and franchisor of the Pollo Tropical and Taco Cabana fast-casual restaurant brands, announced that Nancy Clark has joined the company as vice president, chief people officer, effective January 10, 2013.

Clark is a highly regarded human resources business leader with more than 15 years of experience at several high-profile and diverse organizations, including J.C. Penney Corporation, PepsiCo, and General Electric Company.

Read Full Story // read more about: Pollo Tropical, Taco Cabana, Women in Foodservice, Human Resources
Industry News
Industry Vet Sheri Miksa Takes the Reins at Boneheads

Boneheads Grilled Fish & Piri Piri Chicken, the popular six-unit Atlanta-based fast-casual restaurant chain known for its signature Piri-Piri Chicken and distinctively flavored fresh grilled seafood menu, hasnamed 25-year hospitality and restaurant industry veteran, Sheri Miksa, as its new CEO and president. 

Read Full Story // read more about: Boneheads, Women in Foodservice, Human Resources
Industry News
CIA Students Serve Up Comfort Food for Travelers

Global restaurateur HMSHost is proud to announce the winners of the Fast & Fabulous Recipe Contest, a program that the company cosponsors with The Culinary Institute of America (CIA).

Jessica Hargrove and Lauren Fury, students at the CIA, were recognized as the winners of the contest for their Toasted Flatbread Mac n’ Cheese and Chicken and Waffles recipes, respectively.

Read Full Story // read more about: Menu Development, Women in Foodservice
Industry News
Golden Tiger Pounces on a New Website for Asian Products

It may have been Jean Lee’s father who first opened the popular Chinese Deli in Chinatown back in 1963, but it was Jean Lee’s menu of Asian specialties that eventually became the first “Chinese fast-food concept” in America.  

The model Lee created has evolved into what’s now an extensive line of authentic Dim Sum under the brand Golden Tiger. To promote the brand, the most advanced online site for Asian products in the country has just been launched.

Read Full Story // read more about: Menu Development, Women in Foodservice, Ingredients & Dayparts, Technology
Industry News
Burger King Selects Jerrell Moore as Chief Diversity Officer

Burger King Corporation, a subsidiary of Burger King Worldwide, announced the appointment of Jerrell Moore as chief diversity officer.

In this role, Moore will be responsible for continuing to grow efforts in support of BKC’s four-pronged diversity and inclusion strategy focused on workforce, guests and community, franchisees, and supplier diversity.

Read Full Story // read more about: Burger King, Burgers, Women in Foodservice, Human Resources