QSR, Restaurant and Food Service Trends

November 23, 2007

20 years of Big Macs as McDonald's marks Scottish anniversary

Twenty years ago today, McDonald's made its arrival in Scotland. "When we first started, we were unique not only to Dundee, but to all of Scotland,"recalls Dave Jeffrey, the first manager of the branch, who was 26 at the time. "With our ...

November 23, 2007

Hardee's pushes back conversion to canola

Hardee's is expected to complete the transition to zero trans fat cooking oil by the end of 2008, its parent company CKE Restaurants Inc. said Wednesday. CKE originally thought the conversion would be completed in Hardee's and Carl's Jr. restaurants...

November 23, 2007

Tim Horton's Cuts Deal To Serve Wal-Mart Customers

Canadians might like to think they are different from Americans. But when it comes to eating out, Canadians are members of a fast-food nation just like their neighbor to the south.And amid a host of quick-service chains operating in Canada, native play...

November 21, 2007

Wendy's CEO Kerrii Anderson: taking care of business

As CEO of Wendy's International, Kerrii Anderson's challenge has been to focus on running the business for the long term when the company might be sold in the near term. Under pressure from large, activist investors, the Dublin, Ohio-based fast food re...

November 19, 2007

McDonald's abrira una nueva linea de cafeteria

La cadena norteamericana de comidas rápidas McDonald's anunció hoy el lanzamiento de una nueva línea de cafetería, que promete ofrecer fuerte competencia a la macro-cadena Starbucks. "Queremos avanzar desde un lugar donde se ofrecía cafetería co...

November 16, 2007

Acrylamide in food possibly increases risk of endometrial + ovarian cancer

The intake of acrylamide through food possibly increases the risk of endometrial cancer and ovarian cancer. The paper in which this association is described will be published shortly in the scientific journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Preven...

November 16, 2007

Jack in the Box reports record 2007 profit

Same-store sales at Jack in the Box company restaurants increased 5.2 percent in the fourth quarter compared to a 5.9 percent increase during the same time last year. For the year, same-store sales at Jack in the Box company restaurants increased 6.1 p...

November 16, 2007

Arby's Restaurant ratings on negative watch after bid for Wendy's - S&P

Standard &Poor's Ratings Services signalled it may lower its ratings on Arby's Restaurant Group Inc on news that Triarc Companies Inc, of which Arby's is a wholly owned unit, has bid to buy all outstanding stock of Wendy's International Inc.'Althou...

McDonald's at odds with franchisees over specialty coffee

November 16, 2007

Franchisees not lovin' McDonald's move into specialty coffee

After the success of its upgraded drip coffee -- which even managed to snag a thumbs-up from testers at Consumer Reports earlier this year -- McDonald's is gearing up for a massive expansion into the world of lattes."We want to move from beverage...

November 13, 2007

McDonald's to sell more restaurants to franchisees

McDonald's Corp , the world's largest fast-food chain, said on Tuesday it would sell up to 21 percent of its company-owned restaurants to franchisees over the next three years. The announcement comes as McDonald's has been working to reduce its restaur...

November 13, 2007

McDonald's vendera mas restaurantes a franquicias

McDonald's Corp, la mayor cadena de comida rápida del mundo, anunció el martes que planea vender a franquicias hasta un 21 por ciento de sus restaurantes durante los próximos tres años o más.

November 13, 2007

Nelson Peltz places bid for Wendy's

Billionaire investor Nelson Peltz submitted an offer to buy Wendy's International Inc., but the proposed price is below what he previously said the third-largest U.S. hamburger chain is worth, according to a regulatory filing Tuesday. The filing did n...

November 13, 2007

Oer-hollandse cafetaria steeds vaker chinees

Bij de oer-Hollandse cafetaria, met frikadel en 'frites met' als culinaire toppers, staat steeds vaker een Chinees achter de frituurpan. Een vijfde van de ruim 5.000 cafetaria's in Nederland is al in handen van Chinezen. En hun aantal groeit, zegt Lipi...

November 13, 2007

Foley-Led Group Decides not to submit bid for Wendy's

A group led by William Foley, chairman of Fidelity National Financial Inc., has decided not to submit a bid for Wendy's International Inc., according to a person familiar with the situation.Bids for the hamburger chain were due at 5 p.m. Eastern time y...

November 11, 2007

Efficiency of McDonald's India is an inspiration.

In India, McDonalds reveals unique local flavours — both on its very resistable menu and otherwise. Much to the surprise of ultranationalists and leftists who thought the American food giant would be routed, it has stuck around, growing and expanding ...

November 10, 2007

Are french fries in the US QSR chains now trans fat free?

The check. For each of the chains, we bought and analyzed fries from five to nine restaurants in five states.CR's take. In our sampling, Wendy's still missed its mark. So did Burger King. McDonald's fries claim a high 8 g for most locations and 0 g fo...

November 10, 2007

McDonald's same-store sales jump in October

McDonald's Corp. said Thursday that comparable sales jumped by 6.9% during October, fueled by strong growth in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa.McDonald's also reported overall sales growth of 14.2% during the month. Again, Asia-Pacific, the Mi...

November 09, 2007

McDonald's, Pepsi not trying to make kids fat

When you think of childhood obesity, McDonald's and Pepsi want you to think of them -- but probably not in the way you think. Representatives from the fast-food and soft-drink conglomerates attended a international conference aimed at fighting childho...