June 19, 2013

Women in Foodservice

Industry News
Submit Your Brand for Best Franchise Deals Today!

It's that time of the year again: QSR is looking for the quick-service industry’s best franchise deals. Weighing investment figures, sales trends, and corporate support, among other things, we've produced one the industry's annual can't-miss franchise reports for the last four years.

Read Full Story // read more about: Finance, Franchising
Industry News
Woody's Bar-B-Q Cooks Up Revamped Menu

After 33 years in the barbecue business, Woody Mills and his partner, Yolanda Mills-Mawman, have discovered that the best way to keep their fans coming back for more is to throw in the occasional pleasant surprise. While the bulk of their business is founded on tried-and-true signature dishes and comfort food sides—many of which...

Read Full Story // read more about: Woody's Bar-B-Q, Burgers, Menu Development
Industry News
The Phenom Goes Global

Which Wich has come a long way in its short existence. Ten years after QSR put founder Jeff Sinelli on its cover and called him a “branding phenom”—before a single Which Wich had even opened—the sandwich chain is franchising internationally for the first time. The brand, with its “Superior...

Read Full Story // read more about: Which Wich, Sandwiches, Franchising, Growth
Industry News
Popeyes Chooses CSE as 2012 Supplier of the Year

Popeyes Louisiana Chicken announced that CSE was its 2012 Supplier of the Year. CSE is a 33-year-old branded merchandise agency specializing in promotional products, uniforms, name badges, awards, large-format printing, and fulfillment. Every year at its annual convention, Popeyes Louisiana Chicken selects one supplier that...

Read Full Story // read more about: Popeyes, Operations
Industry News
Alabama Seafood Experts Gather for Gulf Seafood Summit

During the first-ever Alabama Gulf Seafood Summit, more than 100 attendees representing all segments of the seafood chain gathered at the Mobile Convention Center in Mobile, Alabama, to explore how best to move the Gulf seafood industry forward for businesses in the state.

Read Full Story // read more about: Sustainability
Emerging Concepts
One to Watch: Teriyaki Madness

Rod Arreola, along with his brother Alan and cousin Eric Garma, grew up in Seattle, where teriyaki restaurants are commonplace. When they learned the rest of America didn’t have the same access to the Japanese flavors they loved, they decided to bring teriyaki to the masses, starting in Las Vegas.

Read Full Story // read more about: Teriyaki Madness, Franchising, Growth
Operations
Double Trouble?

Tony Holmes had a problem: The drive thru at his high-traffic Chick-fil-A restaurant in Apex, North Carolina, was too crowded. For nearly two years, he tried line busting with employees outside wearing headsets. Then he gave those employees handheld remote units to streamline ordering. Both methods helped alleviate the drive...

Read Full Story // read more about: Checkers, Chick-fil-A, Rally's
Industry News
Ben & Jerry's Blend Smoothies, Shakes for New Product

From March 15 through May 31, Ben & Jerry's scoop shops are serving up the Liz Lemon Schmake, which consists of the new Greek Frozen Yogurt flavor, Liz Lemon, blended with Berry Berry and sorbet. In addition to the Schmake, Ben & Jerry's is offering the Liz Lemon Waffle Bowl Sundae. The item includes a freshly baked...

Read Full Story // read more about: Ben & Jerry's, Desserts, Menu Development
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
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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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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Five to Seven will invest in healthy and sustainble fast food brands globally.
Healthy Menus
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”...

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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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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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New fast food brands like Live Basil first start as innovative business ideas.
Finance
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...

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...

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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.

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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...

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Industry News
WFF Partners with MGM for Conference

Women’s Foodservice Forum (WFF) is entering a partnership with The MGM Resorts Foundation, the non-profit foundation driven by employees of MGM Resorts International, one of the world’s leading hospitality companies, to present the Seventh Annual Women’s Leadership Conference. WFF and the MGM Resorts Foundation will collaborate on programming and content for the Foundation’s conference.

Read Full Story // read more about: Training, Executive Insights, Women in Foodservice
Industry News
WFF Provides New Perk for Members

After more than a year in development, Women’s Foodservice Forum (WFF) has launched its Leadership Library, a custom, best-in-class collection of books, articles, best-practices, and videos members will use to develop their leadership competencies.

 

Read Full Story // read more about: Women in Foodservice
Women in Foodservice
All Fair in Foodservice?

The foodservice industry has come a long way since the days when it was dominated by men, with more than half of the restaurant talent pool now made up of women. From the front counter to the corner office, women are increasingly influencing the future of the industry.

Read Full Story // read more about: Cinnabon, New Miami Subs Grill, Human Resources
Industry News
WFF CEO Woods Earns Dallas Directors Award

Women’s Foodservice Forum (WFF) president and CEO Fritzi Woods was recently recognized as an honoree of Dallas Business Journal’s 2013 Outstanding Directors Award. The Outstanding Directors Award program operates in conjunction with the National Association of Corporate Directors and is sponsored by Ernst & Young. The program honors directors from Dallas-based nonprofits and public and private companies.

Read Full Story // read more about: Women in Foodservice
Women in Foodservice
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 often the biggest challenge, says Arzu Esendemir, CEO and cofounder of Mediterranean fast casual Flatbread Grill in Upper Montclair, New Jersey.

Read Full Story // read more about: Flatbread Grill, Suzy's Swirl, Back of House, Finance, In the Store, Growth
Industry News
Passport Food Group Hires Duo of Execs, Opens New Facility

Passport Food Group announced the hiring of Jeffrey Taveres and Jim Debiase, two experienced sales executives.

Tavares joined Passport Food Group as the Asian market account manager, and will be responsible for supporting the Asian foodservice and retail customers in California, Arizona, and Nevada. He was most recently with the Asian sauce and ingredients company Lee Kum Kee.

Debiase joined the company as the Southern California territory sales manager, and will be responsible for supporting all non‐Asian foodservice accounts in Southern California.

Read Full Story // read more about: Food Safety, Women in Foodservice
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 things; overseeing nearly 1 million members that collectively earn more than $650 billion in sales and represent 4 percent of the entire U.S. GDP isn’t a walk in the park.

Read Full Story // read more about: Healthy Menus, Competition, Women in Foodservice, Growth
Industry News
8 Lessons from WFF's Annual Leadership Conference

For the first time, QSR had the honor of attending the Women’s Foodservice Forum’s Annual Leadership Development Conference, held this year on April 14–17 in Orlando, Florida.

Read Full Story // read more about: Marketing, Operations, Executive Insights, Women in Foodservice, Outside Insights