The Latest
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9 restaurant industry trade shows to attend in 2025
The coming year is brimming with restaurant conferences and trade shows covering key issues for the business sector, from franchising strategy to economic forecasts.
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Smoothie King targets 100 openings in 2025
The chain, which is also testing food items this year, plans to enter Phoenix for the first time as part of its Southwest expansion plan.
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McDonald’s amplifies mobile app with Pokémon Happy Meal
The burger chain is again wedding pop culture and nostalgia with a Happy Meal box inclusive of a Pokémon booster pack, poster and sticker sheet.
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Why quality may trump price in 2025’s restaurant value battle
The mixed success of recently launched value menus highlights the importance of focusing on more than just affordability, experts said.
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Restaurant spending to increase slightly in 2025: Fitch
Investment in tech like artificial intelligence will also define the year, supporting restaurant operations as inflation and labor market challenges persist.
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Starbucks warns of corporate layoffs in March
CEO Brian Niccol framed forthcoming job cuts as a way to increase efficiency and accountability and reduce organizational complexity.
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Q&A
Shake Shack’s CFO talks 1,500-unit goal, drive-thru and restaurant optimization
Katie Fogertey is confident that the burger chain, once only in New York City, can reach its next big target through labor model updates, drive-thru optimization and profitability improvements.
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P.F. Chang’s drops lawsuit claiming UKG lost, destroyed employee data
The restaurant chain sued in 2022 claiming that the HR vendor had provided “false hope” that it could recover some of the chain’s deleted information.
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Twin Hospitality Group expects to go public on Jan. 30
Fat Brands’ spinoff of its highest-performing brands will help it deleverage its balance sheet, which includes $1.2 billion in debt.
Updated Jan. 17, 2025 -
Chipotle invests in firm that makes plant-based meat from duckweed
The restaurant chain’s venture fund is also backing efforts reduce cow-based methane emissions.
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Fat Brands will grow a new tri-branded snack concept
The company combined Great American Cookies, Marble Slab Creamery and Pretzelmaker at a unit in Texas, with plans to open more.
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Krispy Krunchy Chicken names new CFO
Jim Zielke brings more than three decades of restaurant leadership experience to the c-store-focused concept.
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QSR traffic turns positive in Q4, report shows
A push toward more restaurant value offerings appears to be paying off, with spikes in traffic seen in October and November, according to Revenue Management Solutions data.
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Portillo’s tests computer vision to boost drive-thru times
Managers will see a screen flashing red if a car has sat for four minutes, allowing them to redeploy labor and move guests faster through the drive-thru.
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Starbucks reverses open-door policy as it pursues coffeehouse environment
Under the new policy, customers will have to make a purchase if they want to hang out in Starbucks coffee shops or use its bathrooms.
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Sweetgreen CTO shares the chain’s data-focused approach to CX
CTO Wouleta Ayele discussed why she designs experiences by working backwards from an ideal outcome at the National Retail Federation’s Big Show conference.
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Panera hires marketing, culinary executives
Robin Seward joins the chain as senior vice president, brand and innovation, while Scott Uehlein was hired as vice president of culinary.
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How Shake Shack plans to triple its unit count
The chain is targeting 1,500 company-owned units by enhancing leadership, boosting operations and entering new markets, executives said at ICR.
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Baskin-Robbins’ new loyalty program aims to balance simplicity and variety
Baskin-Robbins Rewards, which launched in December, aims to make it easy for customers to earn rewards while offering a variety of redemption options.
Updated Jan. 15, 2025 -
KFC taps CEO from Taco Bell North America
Scott Mezvinsky inherits the chain as it invests in marketing and its tech-centric Saucy concept in a bid to stand out from buzzy chicken rivals.
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Column
3 Big Numbers: C-stores zero in on coffee consumers
Wawa, Casey’s and 7-Eleven all are either updating their coffee programs or employing promotions to draw in more caffeine aficionados.
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Just Salad joins the drive-thru game
A New Jersey outpost is the first of multiple drive-thru units the fast casual chain plans to open in 2025.
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Bartaco promotes president to CEO
Anthony Valletta takes the reins from Scott Lawton, who co-founded the chain in 2010 and guided it through major pandemic-induced staffing changes.
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Why Papa Johns wants market density, not more territories
The pizza chain’s biggest growth opportunities lie in markets where it already has a presence, executives told investors in December.
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McDonald’s to shutter 3 CosMc’s, open 2 more
The chain said its beverage-centric concept works better in smaller locations and will close larger restaurants that were converted from McDonald’s units.