Plant-based Consumers’ Favorite QSRs
U.S. consumers love fast food and those who follow a plant-forward diet are no exception. Which quick service restaurants (QSRs) are plant-based consumers seeking out this year?
Foodservice Archive
Wild Results: Buffalo Wild Wings Promotion Pays Huge Dividends
The promotion, which started in mid-May, saw visits on Monday, May 27 increase nearly 56% compared to the average number of Monday visitors from the four months prior.
Gut Feelings: Experts Largely Bullish on Prebiotic Sodas
Many industry experts believe prebiotic sodas represent a gut-health trend with real staying power as major soda brands appear poised to respond.
Private Label Drives Summer Growth
For many major retailers, the latest quarterly results tell a familiar tale: consumers are fed up with high prices, spending less, and commodifying their loyalty by taking the best deal right now, regardless of whose logo adorns their grocery bag or shopping cart.
A Fork in the Road to Sustainability: Nestlé’s New Plant-Based Fork
The innovation is a key part of its commitment to eliminate or reduce plastics in packaging while scaling reusable and refillable systems.
Tapping Out: 2024 is Mocktail Time for Gen Z
“Gen Z is tapped in, and they see the negative impact alcohol can have on their lives,” said Michelle Houston, founder of the To Be Honest Beverage Company.
Fast-Food Chains Racing to the Bottom to Attract Inflation-Weary Consumers
All of a sudden, $5 value meals are everywhere, from fast-food chains to major retailers. Industry insiders say the deals are simply a short-term solution, however.
Drinks Catering to Gen Z Steal the Show in Chicago
The event’s exhibitors focused on foods, drinks, and equipment designed to help foodservice operators create unique taste experiences. Beyond offering crave-worthy fusion dishes and fun iced beverages, exhibitors offered a wide array of vending machines on the show floor.
Seafood Restaurant Outlook: Lessons Learned from Red Lobster’s Demise
What can seafood restaurant operators learn from the demise of Red Lobster? Andy Diamond, president of seafood franchise Angry Crab Shack, recently noted how operators can stay ahead of volatile market pricing to deliver value.
Falling Stars: Inflation Cuts Into Retailers’ Ratings
The most recent rising trend in retail is lowering one’s expectations of retail. This year, clothing companies tended to fall the worst, followed closely by QSRs, big box stores, and grocers, in that order.
Cooking Up a Storm: Gen Alpha Kids Have Become Tiny Tastemakers
Don’t look now, but Gen Alpha’s influence in the food industry is rising due to its increasing interest in cooking.
In Today’s Market, What Defines Value?
Many consumers feel they can’t win on cost alone – they also need an experience, or at least a decent reason to visit a brick-and-mortar store.
Next-level Insight: Using AI to Fuel Food Business Strategies
The Future of Food Delivery: Are Uber, DoorDash, and Instacart Destined to Win the Delivery War?
For now, third-party delivery companies are operating full speed ahead. But how much are consumers willing to pay for convenience?
Opinion: Why Casual-Dining Restaurant Chains are in Crisis
Casual dining is about to implode. It has already started. Full-service restaurants that were popular in the 1980s and ‘90s – old brands – I think they’re going to be cut in half. TGI Friday’s …
The Summer of Swicy
Asian cuisines like Thai, Korean, and Chinese have long used swicy foods as an enticing way to attract new and long-time patrons, and many mainstream and fusion restaurants are combining classic American fare with these staple flavors from across the world.
Crumbl-ing Facade: Cookie Chain Experiencing the High Costs of Rapid Growth
Crumbl keeps making its new locations bigger, but is it a facade? The Utah-based bakery chain originally had small, humble retail footprints.
Could Daiya’s Latest Alt-Cheese Innovation Be a Game-Changer?
Daiya’s newest alt-cheese recipe utilizes proprietary fermentation technology to mimic the texture and meltability of traditional dairy cheese. Could it be a game-changer for the plant-based cheese category?
Mountain Mike’s Pizza Plans to Reach the Upper Crust
The newly minted CEO isn’t oblivious to Mountain Mike’s challenges in its crowded sector. For example, Metevier knows he needs to be sensitive to labor costs now that his California-based chain must deal with that state’s recent implementation of a $20 minimum wage (85% of the chains locations are based within the Golden State.)
BREAKING: Foxtrot, Dom’s Kitchen & Market to Close
Foxtrot and Dom’s Kitchen & Market have closed their doors effective immediately. The closure will affect 33 Foxtrot locations and 2 Dom’s locations across Chicago, Austin, Dallas and D.C. areas.
Restaurant Chains Dominate Top 10 Fastest-Growing Retail Brands
Yelp has released its first-ever list of the 50 fastest-growing brands in the U.S. Restaurant chains dominate the top ten, half of which are “challenger brands” – businesses that are not market leaders but aim to compete by disrupting their industries.
The Red Lobster Boat is Taking on Water – Again
After an endless shrimp fiasco, Red Lobster is reportedly considering a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing to restructure its debt.
Why the All-Night Diner is Dying
The all-night diner is all but dead in America, with Yelp revealing that the number of 24-hour eateries is down 18% since 2020.
An Evolution Explained: Mondelēz Report Reveals Changing Consumption Habits
Other noteworthy shifts include the emergence of Gen Z and Gen Alpha as influential consumer groups. These young consumers are influencing market trends such as the push for labeling transparency and ethical production.
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FI Exclusive: Chef Robert Irvine Provides Guide for Restaurants to Survive Wage Hikes
The celebrity chef, who appeared on Food Network’s Restaurant: Impossible show between 2011 and 2023, fears that as many as one-fifth of all American “mom-and-pop” restaurants could be forced to close by year’s end due to rising labor costs.
Premium, Ethical, and On-Demand: The New Age of Snacking Unwrapped
For starters, the global demographic landscape is undergoing a noteworthy transformation, with “second lifers” – those embarking on new chapters post-retirement – emerging as a powerful group of consumers. By 2050, the over-60 demographic is expected to double. This shift is pushing the market towards balanced nutrition.
Co-Branding a Powerful Tool to Pique Consumer Interest
Co-Branding is a powerful tool to pique consumer interest, from Oreo and Breyers Ice Cream, to Mike’s Hot Honey and Lou Malnati’s pizza,
Fast-Food Chains’ ‘Wrap Battle’ Has Commenced
A wrap battle is booming in the QSR arena. By remixing preexisting ingredients with build-your-own appeal, major players are producing flavor-drenched “hunger hacks” and fresh affordable snacks that span dayparts.
Can Fine Dining Survive Without Weekends? Canlis Will Find Out
The restaurant is an outlier in another way: no tipping. Instead, staff are paid what Canlis said is a high hourly wage. The change in schedules will not affect salaries.
How One Florida Restaurant is Redefining Fine Dining
By offering authentic, boldly flavored dishes, Nolita in Florida is proving that fine dining is alive and well post-pandemic.
Panera’s Menu Makeover Could be Start of Big 2024 for Fast-Casual Chain
With an eye towards efficiency (and, one presumes, improved profits), Panera Bread recently unveiled it’s largest menu revamp ever.
Korean Food is Ascendant
Zooming out, Korean cuisine has found a niche in today’s restaurant, retail, and grocery foodscape, whether standing alone as a global cultural beacon of cuisine or being reimagined with some of today’s food trends.
Wading in Shallow Waters: New Seafood Challenges Consumers
The high cost of seafood and the very clear preference for certain fish is the reason behind the caution, but it could be a lost opportunity for restaurants to stand out and become true destinations for seafood.
Fast-Flation: Fast Food Restaurant Prices Surge, Even as Inflation Wanes
Major fast-food restaurants have raised prices by 60% on average between 2014 and 2024. McDonald’s is the worst offender with average menu prices increasing more than three times the national rate of inflation over the past decade.
The Endless Promise of Pizza
Served as an LTO, in a restaurant, or at a ball game, fired in a brick oven at 800 degrees or reheated Sunday morning in a battered collegiate microwave after a late night, pizza is a tough business that can yield great rewards, revenue, and satisfaction.
The Cost of Loyalty – How Trader Joe’s & Costco Do It
So prevalent and all-consuming is the cultural agency of the Costco Kirkland Signature All-Beef Hot Dog that it’s propelling a crypto “memecoin” on the Solana crypto exchange. That is a real sentence. “Hot dogs are in control,” writes one commentator on TikTok. “The buns stay on,” adds @Jan crypto trader in the same thread amid a rising swell of crypto brokers.