Food
Will customization lead beverage trends in 2012?
One of the expected food trends for next year is familiar favorites with a twist, according to Technomic. I reached out to Givaudan product...
Results for "fast casual"
Food
Dining to the beat of a different drum
Steven Chan opened the first Tin Drum Asia Cafe near Georgia Tech in 2003 and has since expanded the fast-casual chain to 10 locations,...
Food
Brand love and the social consumer
Measuring brand love is a sophisticated romance between art and science, and while the technology involved has a lot of moving parts, the premise...
Restaurant and Foodservice
The future of foodservice: The changing role of grocers and c-stores
The way Americans eat is changing. Consumers are eating more meals away from home, and eating out isn’t always a special occasion. But even...
Food
Q-and-A: Roti’s Frederik Jensen and Peter Nolan on farm-to-fork
Demand for healthy and local meals on restaurant menus has skyrocketed in the last few years. Eateries of all types — from fine dining...
Food Retail
Restaurants, grocers cope as beef prices continue to rise
(Photo: Flickr user Youssef Abdelaal) Beef prices have been rising for several years and there’s seemingly no ceiling, an ongoing trend that’s challenging restaurants...
Restaurant and Foodservice
Trend report: Americans are eating pizza, and a lot of it
(Photo: Flickr user Mark H. Anbinder) What are consumers consuming? Pizza — and a lot of it. Every week, two out of three Americans...
Restaurant and Foodservice
Q-and-A: Tips for restaurant recruiting
This post is by SmartBlog on Restaurants and Restaurant SmartBrief contributor Janet Forgrieve. After a 23-year career that spanned stints at Chili’s and Joe’s...
Restaurant and Foodservice
Chains start early to avoid calorie sticker shock
This post is by SmartBlog on Restaurants and Restaurant SmartBrief contributor Janet Forgrieve. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week released the first...
Restaurant and Foodservice
How to deal with the dine-and-dash
This post is by SmartBlog on Restaurants and Restaurant SmartBrief contributor Janet Forgrieve. A seemingly classy couple made international news this week, complete with...
Inspiration
38 questions to assess your company’s cultural readiness for social media
This post was written by Jay Baer and Amber Naslund and was culled from their forthcoming book, “The NOW Revolution: 7 Shifts to Make...
Restaurant and Foodservice
Bruegger’s French owner brings new brands to the table
Bruegger’s Enterprises was acquired last week by Le Duff America, the North American subsidiary of the French firm Groupe Le Duff SA, which operates...
Restaurant and Foodservice
Q-and-A with Anita Jones-Mueller, president and founder of Healthy Dining
Anita Jones-Mueller founded Healthy Dining in 1990 with the aim of inspiring chefs to create healthier options for diners and allowing Americans to include...
Restaurant and Foodservice
QSRs increase nutrition with customization and low-calorie choices
It used to be that if you wanted a quickserve restaurant to leave butter off your bun, everyone in the restaurant had to know...
Careers
Scaling your relationships after a promotion
Leaders who are on the fast track know what it’s like to have to “scale” when they’re promoted. They may go from managing an...
Restaurant and Foodservice
Restaurant Digital Brand of the Year nominations are in
Make sure to practice your best Instagram pose and get those tweets ready — there’s a new awards ceremony in town! The RIZMY Awards,...
Restaurant and Foodservice
Food trucks: Has the summer brought a new wave of mobile eateries, cuisines?
Summertime brings a new surge of food-truck activity each year, from events like Truckeroo in the Washington, D.C., market and Food Truck Fridays in...
Restaurant and Foodservice
Recent restaurant revamps showcase industry trends, changes
(Photo: Flickr user Mike Mozart) When Denny’s recently unveiled their newest restaurant, set to open in Manhattan’s Financial District, the design was nearly unrecognizable....
Sponsored
How unique beverage programs, customization, interactivity set operators apart
(Photo: Flickr user Emily C) As more consumers seek out craft beverages and premium drinks, many restaurants and retailers are taking their own beverage...
Restaurant and Foodservice
Top trends on tap for chains: Health, value and breakfast
Maeve E. Webster, director of research and consulting at Datassential, consults on and manages an array of client projects including market opportunity, brand equity...
Restaurant and Foodservice
Local food sourcing: Who, what, where?
SmartPulse — our weekly reader poll in SmartBrief on Restaurants — tracks feedback from restaurant owners and managers about current trends and issues. Last...
Restaurant and Foodservice
The importance of regular training
SmartPulse — our weekly reader poll in SmartBrief on Restaurants — tracks feedback from restaurant owners and managers about current trends and issues. Last...
Restaurant and Foodservice
2011 forecasts call for pie, ice pops and a pop for fine dining
A few weeks ago, we took at look at how last year’s food predictions played out. This week, it’s time to start looking ahead,...
Food
Culinary apps, historic restaurants and skimming fraud
Every week Restaurant SmartBrief editors scour the Internet for the breaking news and best-practices stories restaurant owners and managers need to make their businesses...
Restaurant and Foodservice
7 things aspiring restaurateurs can learn from “America’s Next Great Restaurant”
Denise Lee Yohn has been inspiring and teaching companies how to operationalize their brands and grow their businesses for more than 20 years. World-class...
Restaurant and Foodservice
Johnny Rockets’ checklist for switching to digital menu boards
Johnny Rockets restaurants hark back to slower times when there was less technology, but the chain recently announced that it will be updating its...
Restaurant and Foodservice
Post-recession consumers and restaurant spending
Restaurant chains generally have been reporting more positive news on sales, including McDonald’s, which this week reported a 6% increase in April same-store sales,...
Food
P&G Professional executive: Innovation comes in many forms
This blog series is brought to you by the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association (IFMA), the leading trade association for the foodservice industry. This series...
Restaurant and Foodservice
2012 trends: Familiar food and clashing flavors
Business and menu trends are likely to be intimately tied next year, as restaurant chains avoid the risk of alienating patrons with extreme menu...
Food
Social media insight from NRA Show 2012
Revolution of the restaurant industry has begun as the sector takes its first step toward fully embracing social media in the way that it...
Education
Data sharing and customization help observe4success empower educators
Techniques to observe and evaluate teachers in the classroom continue to evolve as education professionals look to meet growing reporting needs. Software from observe4success...
Food
Taco Bell drives buzz north of the border
Taco Bell didn’t owe anything to the citizens of remote Bethel, Alaska, after somebody pulled a cruel hoax, but the company saw a chance...
Restaurant and Foodservice
Can you keep your workers coming back?
Workers might hold onto a job that isn’t working for them longer during an economic downturn, when other options are slim to none. Staffers...
Careers
Mentors on steroids: How advocates advance your career
Do you have an advocate at work who is championing your cause? An advocate relationship is like a mentorship on steroids. Instead of remaining...
Restaurant and Foodservice
Q-and-A: Jersey Mike’s Subs President Hoyt Jones on how restaurants can prep for 2013
Hoyt Jones is president of Jersey Mike’s Subs, which opened its first store in Point Pleasant, N.J., in 1956. Last year, the company saw...
Food
Social intelligence is poised to transform how restaurants do business in 2013
The explosion of online feedback we witnessed in 2012 has forever changed the way restaurants and customers interact. Even before customers pay their check,...
Inspiration
Your organizational culture probably needs tending
What is it like to live in your organization’s culture? Is it a safe, inspiring work environment that demonstrates trust and respect for employees...
Restaurant and Foodservice
The story of Salata
The healthy-dining trend comes as no surprise to Berge Simonian — he’s known for a while that tasty better-for-you choices can score big with...
Brands & Campaigns
Andy’s Answers: 3 ways to use social media to wow your fans and customers
Social media gives brands bigger opportunities than ever to do incredibly awesome, buzzworthy things for their fans. Even better, it’s also made it much...
Restaurant and Foodservice
Q2 top social restaurant brands rocking mobile and location
The much-anticipated Q2 2013 Restaurant Social Media Index (RSMI) data has been released, and a lot of brands have moved around in Q2. The...
CPG
Economy, health and innovation fuel pasta trends and popularity
As it has historically in lean economic times, pasta came to the rescue for many families during the recession, when tighter budgets brought tougher...
Restaurant and Foodservice
Sriracha 2.0: Up-and-coming hot sauces and peppers adding heat to menus today
(Photo: Flickr user Au Kirk) It’s safe to say that Sriracha, the Thai garlic and chili sauce, is everywhere. Panda Express has Sriracha shrimp,...