Whataburger, the Texas-born fast-food brand, is making a strategic move to sharpen its national presence. The company has appointed Todd Ewen, a former McDonald’s development leader, as its new senior vice president and chief development officer. The hire marks a pivotal shift in Whataburger’s ambition to grow beyond its Southern roots and challenge some of… read more

COO Sharlene Smith has been formalizing processes and procedures for the past couple of years, leading to higher accuracy and speed-of-service scores Zaxbys has generated slow and steady growth throughout its 35 years, squarely positioning itself in the largest 40 U.S. chains. In 2024, sales increased by more than 5% year-over-year, according to Technomic, while… read more

Smaller and mid-sized chains are slowly taking larger pieces of the pie, according to Placer.ai’s latest traffic analysis The coffee category is more competitive than ever. As trendy drive-thru chains like Dutch Bros and 7 Brew gain momentum, and newer emerging brands chip away at market share, Starbucks and Dunkin’s longtime reign at the top… read more

Doug Fry stepped down as head of the sandwich chain’s North American operations while Greg Lyons was named chief marketing officer. Subway is making changes in its executive team months following the departure of former CEO John Chidsey. The company has confirmed the departure of Doug Fry, the company’s president of North America. That news… read more

The sandwich chain, which just completed its sale to Blackstone, is thriving in Canada and wants to cross the pond. But it also has big plans here and ultimately will bring in a new chief executive. Peter Cancro doesn’t like to call himself the CEO. “I was always Peter,” he said. He won’t have to… read more

Buzzworthy Brands: This new weekly column about emerging chains won’t just be about chicken concepts. But there’s no avoiding the fact that everyone wants a piece of the poultry craze. Noble Chicken. Rooster and Rice. Urban Bird. Ponko Chicken. These are just a few of the emerging brands in the increasingly crowded fast-casual chicken space…. read more

The Mexican fast-food chain has historically been slower to expand outside the U.S. as its offerings were less familiar elsewhere. But the company believes it finally has the right strategy to become a global growth engine. Among the three bigger Yum Brands concepts, Taco Bell sticks out in more ways than one. In the U.S.,… read more

Krispy Kreme, Inc. announced its official launch into Brazil, marking a milestone in the brand’s global expansion. The Company will open its first shop through a minority interest joint venture with Ipiranga’s AmPm in the busy Avenida Juscelino Kubitschek neighborhood in São Paulo in late April. Krispy Kreme’s market entry will be carried out through… read more

After a chilly start to the year, the Italian casual-dining chain said business has picked up recently, despite signs that consumer sentiment is down. After a chilly winter at Olive Garden, business appears to be warming up again for spring. Same-store sales at the casual-dining chain increased 0.6% during the quarter ended Feb. 23. That… read more