Breakfast used to be an after-thought at most full-service eateries, but no longer. Now a number of restaurant chains specializing in breakfast such as First Watch, Black Bear Diner, and Metro Diner are showing steady growth and intensifying the competition against long-standing rivals like IHOP and Denny’s. As more Americans work independently and crave in-person… read more
Cava Group Inc. completed its acquisition Wednesday of Zoes Kitchen, creating a privately held Mediterranean fast-casual company with some 340 units and more than 8,000 employees. The $300 million deal, first announced in August, was financed by a “significant equity investment” from Act III Holdings, the emerging brand-accelerator financing group created by former Panera Bread CEO… read more
Forty per cent of consumers say their definition of health has changed over the past two years — and that definition is driving their choices of food and beverage, according to Technomic Inc.’s 2018 Healthy Eating Consumer Trend Report. Consumers are increasingly ordering menu items that meet that personal definition of health, such as food… read more
While product recalls in the bakery and snack industries are most often due to undeclared allergens or the detection of pathogens like Salmonella or E. coli, there have been food safety issues related to packaging. For example, a package that is not secure in some way can lead to food safety hazards ranging from spoilage to sabotage. Dan… read more
A nationwide advisory to stop eating romaine lettuce remains in effect this week as federal health and food safety officials scramble to find new suppliers amid an E. coli outbreak that has sickened 32 people and hospitalized 13 in 11 states. The outbreak, announced jointly Nov. 20 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention… read more
The proposed joint regulatory framework will have F.D.A. oversee cell collection, cell banks and cell growth and differentiation. Production and labeling of food products derived from cultured cells of livestock and poultry will fall into U.S.D.A.’s jurisdiction. “This regulatory framework will leverage both the F.D.A.’s experience regulating cell-culture technology and living biosystems and the U.S.D.A.’s… read more
El Pollo Loco has named Hector A. Muñoz, a former executive at rival chicken brands Church’s Chicken and Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, as its new chief marketing officer. Muñoz replaces Ed Valle who stepped down earlier this year after seven years with the chain. Muñoz will start Dec. 3. Muñoz joins the company from Atlanta-based Church’s Chicken, where… read more
Bob Platzer, founder of PJW Restaurant Group, the largest and most successful family-owned restaurant group in the Delaware Valley, has named hospitality veteran Jim Fris Chief Executive Officer as Platzer assumes the Executive Chairman role. The announcement comes as the restaurant group celebrates its 35th year of success. Bob Platzer and his wife Donna began in… read more
After 11 years as CEO of UNO Restaurant LLC, Louie Psallidas has stepped down from his role. Psallidas made the announcement, “A farewell to my friends at UNO,” on his Linkedln page on November 21. When I first became CEO of UNO, a wise man told me that it would be important to recognize when the… read more
Service men and women accepted into the groundbreaking program will earn a paycheck from Chili’s as they’re provided with the education and training to advance into supervisory positions for the chain. They will join the 250 Chili’s employees currently participating in the initiative, a pilot program forged by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF)… read more