May 18, 2013

Women in Foodservice

Denise Lee Yohn: QSR’s Marketing Guru

Q: How do we turn customers into evangelists for our brand? A: I’ve received this question from several people. And they are always surprised by my answer: follow Lady Gaga.

Competition

The seasoning of the food, impeccable service, crisp table linens—every detail counts in fine dining, as chefs and managers seek to create a memorable experience alongside a savory meal. That same strategy is now playing out in the quick-serve arena, where fine-dining operators are increasingly creating fast-casual sister concepts...

Consumer Trends

With more consumers interested in knowing where their food comes from, a growing number of quick-service companies are either pressuring their suppliers to improve the humane treatment of animals or switching food suppliers altogether. Cage-free eggs, gestation crate–free pigs, and free-range chickens are showing up on more...

Ordering

With smartphones getting smarter, smaller, and speedier all the time, concurrent advances in mobile point-of-sale technology are presenting restaurants with the opportunity to make their POS systems mobile.

Roy Bergold: Tales from McDonald’s

Ladies and gentlemen, I love the written word. I devour books. But with the exception of Charles Dickens, I never read the same book twice. Too many books, too little time.

Read Full Story // read more about: McDonald's, Marketing, Growth
Industry News

Some several decades after drive-thru restaurant windows first appeared on the American scene, these now ubiquitous dining speedways are still serving the needs of time-strapped customers, according to  The NPD Group , a leading market research company. Last year 12.4 billion visits were made through fast food drive-thrus, a 2...

Emerging Concepts

There’s been no lack of new faces and places on the frozen dessert landscape in the past 10 years, but with innovative flavors like Wildberry Lavender ice cream and Riesling Poached Pear sorbet, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams stands out in the crowd. In 2000, Jeni Britton Bauer was studying art history at Ohio State University...

Executive Insights

“Growth has killed many brands.” Those words, from Corner Bakery Café’s CEO Mike Hislop, sum up a problem that several quick-serve CEOs face: Expanding a business is a natural desire for most executives, but growing it beyond one or two stores without compromising its authentic, personable branding often proves to be...

Corner Bakery's new menu items use fresh ingredients to offer premium quality.
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...

Superfoods like whole grains and oatmeal offer healthy menu alternative.
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...

McAlisters Deli franchisee says casual dining experience helps in quick service.
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....

Tin Drum Asia Cafe used equity firm investment to stay debt free in growth.
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...

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

Burger King's new coffee beverages position the brand to compete with McDonalds.
Coffee is King

Forget quick-serve mainstays like burgers and fries. These days, limited-service brands are looking to coffee to beef up business, and Burger King is the latest chain to get in on the action.

Burger King’s customers can now enjoy 10 new specialty drinks, including iced coffees in a...

Operators must protect their quick serve business from credit card fraud.
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...

Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey is innovativing the POS space with Square.
Can Square Change POS Forever?

Jack Dorsey, who cofounded Twitter and Square, was raised by parents in the quick-service industry. His father owned a pizza restaurant, and his mother ran a coffee shop.

It’s little surprise, then, that Dorsey’s latest initiative with Square is to broaden its use within quick...