Arby’s Franchisee Finds Success With RTIconnect
Carter Miller is a self-described finance guy, so when he talks about software for his restaurant company, he talks about the ease of achieving results. His back office software is RTIconnect.
Bentley-Miller Corp. operates 20 Arby’s restaurants in Nebraska, South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming.
Before RTIconnect, the company used a system that was a bit labor-intensive, according to Miller. He appreciates the swift response time of the RTIconnect system, where changes are immediately evident.
Barberitos Marketing to Feature Customer Who Lost 70 Pounds
Barberitos launched its 2012 Healthy Campaign this January systemwide to promote weight loss and wellness. The campaign kicked off with an alternative healthy menu, updates, and more nutritional information on its website.
The “7 under 7” menu features seven original dishes that are modified to each include fewer than seven grams of fat. The items include the mini veggie burrito, the jerk fish taco, and several Barberitos sans shell; a small side salad is substituted for tortilla chips.
Daily Kitchen Dishes Up Eco-Conscious Fare in Vegas
Delicious is officially in season at Daily Kitchen & Wellness Bar, the newest fast-casual concept from The LEV Restaurant Group in Las Vegas.
Situated off the Strip in the Gardens Plaza in Summerlin, Daily Kitchen & Wellness Bar is dishing up seasonal, locally-sourced ingredients for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with its eclectic menu that offers something for every palate, from carnivores to lettuce lovers to families on-the-go.
Sonic Appoints O’Reilly to Chief Marketing Officer
Sonic Corp., the nation's largest chain of drive-in restaurants, today announced the appointment of James O’Reilly as senior vice president and chief marketing officer.
O’Reilly brings more than 20 years of senior level leadership in consumer driven marketing, brand management, and product development, including extensive experience within the quick service restaurant segment.
He most recently served as the chief concept officer of Einstein Noah Restaurant Group, Inc.
NRA, Restaurateurs to Speak to Congress About Job Growth
An expected 500 restaurateurs from across the country will convene in Washington, D.C., from April 17-18, 2012, for the National Restaurant Association’s 26th annual Public Affairs Conference.
United Fresh Sets Goal for Salad Bars in Texas Schools
The United Fresh Foundation and partner produce companies have rallied to make fresh and healthy salad bars a reality in Texas schools. The Foundation and partners have set a goal to donate 100 salad bars to schools in the state that will host United Fresh 2012, and are asking industry colleagues to join in the charitable commitment.
The cost to sponsor a salad bar is $2,500. More information on how to donate is available here.
KFC’s Ultimate Wingman Donates $10K to Hospital
It was a great party and an even better cause. Kentucky Fried Chicken named Joel Markland of Carmel, Indiana, the recipient of KFC’s Ultimate Wingman party with football legend and network TV sports commentator, Shannon Sharpe.
Instead of keeping the party to himself, yesterday at his home Markland hosted a bevy of staff, volunteers, and former patients from the Peyton Manning Children's Hospital at St. Vincent. Markland is also donating the $10,000 in prize money, which was earmarked for a media room makeover in his home, to the hospital.
Krispy Kreme Franchisee Implements MICROS Simphony
Hospitality Solutions International (HSI), a division of MICROS Systems, Inc., is pleased to announce that Glazing Saddles, LLC, a franchisee of Krispy Kreme Doughnut
Corporation, has chosen to implement MICROS Simphony, a cloud-based point-of-service and enterprise restaurant management system.
All eight of the franchise’s locations will benefit from MICROS Simphony’s service- oriented architecture (SOA), which enables the central management of menus, payroll, scheduling, gift cards, and loyalty functions from anywhere through a web browser.
Liquid Nutrition Juices Up 10 More Stores in Quebec
Liquid Nutrition Group Inc. announced today a major franchise deal in Quebec that will more than double the number of Liquid Nutrition stores in the Province. Ten new retail locations are scheduled to open throughout Quebec beginning in the spring 2012.
Read QSR’s story about Liquid Nutrition and athlete partnerships.
Professional Athletes Key to Liquid Nutrition's Growth
Several established restaurant chains have brought on professional athletes as franchisees in recent years, but one upstart quick serve is taking the athlete partnership to the next level.
Liquid Nutrition, a Montreal-based health-food-and-beverage concept that plans to debut in the U.S. later this year, counts six professional athletes among its equity-owning business partners. The company also partnered as a charter member with the Professional Athlete Franchise Initiative (PAFI) this week to boost athlete participation in the franchise industry.
Chick-fil-A Surpasses $4 Billion in Sales in 2011
In continuing with its trend of strong sales performance, Chick-fil-A, Inc. announces that it exceeded $4 billion in annual sales in 2011. A record for the Atlanta-based chain, annual systemwide sales at Chick-fil-A totaled $4,050,992,837, a 13.08 percent increase over the 2010 overall sales performance.
The company also generated a healthy 7 percent same-store sales increase, and marked the 44th consecutive year of sales growth since the company began in 1967.
Unified Brands Announces Executive Appointments
Unified Brands recently announced the promotion of Angela Owens to vice president of human resources.
Owens started her career as a human resource generalist with the Randell brand in 2000. In 2004 she was promoted to human resource manager for the Weidman, Michigan, and Tucson, Arizona, manufacturing facilities.
Baja Fresh Returns to Chicago
Baja Fresh Mexican Grill, the quick-casual fresh Mexican chain, announced the grand opening of its newest Baja Fresh in Niles, IL.
The 2,100 square foot Baja Fresh is located at 8610 W. Golf Road, Niles, IL 60714. It is owned and operated by Jignesh Patel.
Domino's Pizza Debuts Parmesan Bread Bites
Domino's Pizza announces the launch of their new Parmesan Bread Bites, debuting at $1 for a limited time.
When ordering the popular, already-valuable two medium, two-topping pizzas deal for $5.99 each, consumers will be able to add 16 Parmesan Bread Bites for only $1 more. The bite (or two) size, brand new, permanent menu item is there for the sharing – which, based on the goodness of freshly baked bread topped with garlic and parmesan, may not be easy.
Restaurant Industry Set to Outpace National Job Growth
Despite sluggish recovery by the nation's economy, the restaurant industry is projected to expand in 2012, according to the National Restaurant Association's 2012 Restaurant Industry Forecast released today.
Total restaurant industry sales are expected to reach a record high of $632 billion in 2012 – a 3.5 percent increase over 2011, marking the second consecutive year that industry sales have topped $600 billion.
2011 Beef Backer Award Winners Announced
The 2011 National Foodservice Beef Backer Award winners were unveiled today at the 2012 Cattle Industry Annual Convention & NCBA Trade Show in Nashville.
Each year, the Beef Checkoff Program recognizes three foodservice establishments for their efforts in menuing and marketing beef.
The 2011 national winners include the Little Apple Brewing Company in the Independent category, Zippy's Restaurants in the Chain category and Coeur d'Alene Casino Resort as the Innovator of the Year.
Dunkin' Donuts Introduces New Bakery Sandwiches
Dunkin' Donuts is expanding its all-day menu options by serving up four new bakery sandwiches.
Dunkin' Donuts' new Ham & Cheese Bakery Sandwich features Black Forest ham, white cheddar cheese, and Creamy Dijon sauce on a French roll, while the new Turkey, Cheddar & Bacon Bakery Sandwich features turkey, white cheddar cheese, bacon, and Ancho Chipotle sauce on a French roll.
WEBstaurantStore.com Debuts New Digital Menu Designer
WEBstaurant Restaurant Supply, one of the largest restaurant supply company on the web, has expanded its services with the debut of a web-based menu design program available to any patron of the site.
Stop paying over priced design firms to create a menu, when you can create it yourself for free with the WEBstaurantStore.com's user friendly WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) styled editor!
Whataburger Debuts Chicken Fajita Taco
Today, Whataburger is launching the Chicken Fajita Taco, the newest permanent addition to the Texas burger icon's menu.
This isn't your average taco. It's a chicken fajita done the Whataburger way - with a whole sliced grilled chicken breast, layered with roasted poblano and red bell peppers, and finished off with grilled onions. It's light, but loaded at the same time.
Panera Opens in Manhattan, Competition Happy
When Panera Bread’s 1,500th store opens Tuesday, Feb. 7, it will be the company’s first location in Manhattan.
The brand ranked No. 13 on the most recent QSR 50 list, and it already boasts 90 cafes in the tri-state area. Analysts praise it for not just sustaining, but accelerating the fast-casual dining segment, and even competitors say they would like a Panera to open next door.
So what took so long for the brand to enter the country’s most populated city?
