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First Bite

Nation"s Restaurant News

First Bite, hosted by Nation’s Restaurant News digital editor Holly Petre, highlights the top restaurant industry headlines of each day followed by a short conversation on one of the day’s trending stories. Published early every weekday morning, First Bite is the perfect way to get a brief recap of the daily foodservice news alongside your first cup of coffee.

business management

All Episodes

18:14

How one of the restaurant industry's most prestigious...

First Bite ·

2024/04/08

The James Beard Foundation on Wednesday announced the nominees for its Restaurant and Chef Awards.For decades, we knew what we were getting from the awards: Mostly well-established chefs from fine-dining restaurants in major cities. Yes, they were usually white and male, but arguably more importantly they were largely from the same groups of chefs with well-established networks and hardworking publicists. The same nominees put forward by past winners and a cadre of food writers (including myself

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12:59

How restaurants are reacting to the California $20...

First Bite ·

2024/04/05

In light of California’s new$20 minimum wage billfor fast-food workers, which went into effect on April 1, restaurant chains and franchisees are already taking action, in some cases by raising prices by as much as 7-8% for select menu items in the state.Analysts Eric Gonzalez of Keybanc and Mark Kalinowski scraped data and researched pricing trends over the past couple of months at major restaurant chains to determine how much menu prices have been impacted by surge in labor costs in the state. All

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12:17

What the ASAP/Waitr bankruptcy says about the future...

First Bite ·

2024/04/04

ASAP, the food delivery service formerly known as Waitr, has shut down after the company filed for Ch. 7 bankruptcy, according toan 8-K formfiled with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on April 2.Waitr was founded in 2013 as a boutiquedelivery platform by students at McNeese University and then was officially launched in 2015 before spreading throughout Louisiana and into other regions. In 2018,the company was acquiredby Landry’s owner Tilman Fertitta’s blank check company, Landcadia

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11:01

Why a complicated tech stack might be detrimental to...

First Bite ·

2024/04/03

Earlier this month,McDonald’s experienceda systemwide tech outage in several of the company’s global markets, including Australia, the United Kingdom, Japan and Hong Kong. Although the company clarified that the IT outage was not a result of a cybersecurity threat, it took much of the day to fix and get mobile ordering and kiosks back online.Then, a couple of weeks later, on March 24, Panera Bread also experienced a “massive tech outage” that impacted online ordering, POS systems, and in-store

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13:26

How one organization is creating community and...

First Bite ·

2024/04/02

This year, for the annual Women’s Foodservice Forum Conference, our editors Alicia Kelso, Joanna Fantozzi, and Leigh Anne Zinsmeister traveled out to the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, Texas to meet with the 3,000 attendees at the conference honoring women in the restaurant industry. On the 35th anniversary of the conference, change held a new meaning for conference leaders. There were keynotes from Luvvie Ajayi Jones, Katty Kay, Cassandra Worthy, andKendra Scott, as well as networking activities.At the

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09:25

How one restaurant company achieved gender parity

First Bite ·

2024/04/01

KFC announced last week it has achieved gender parity across its global corporate offices, with women now constituting 51% of the company’s restaurant support center team.According to a press release, KFC has been measuring progress using the McKinsey & Company Inclusion Survey, which tests whether a subset of employees believe they have an equal chance of success within the company. The survey measures the “gender experience gap” to understand the differences in employees’ observed, perceived,

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13:28

Everyone is anticipating the California minimum wage...

First Bite ·

2024/03/29

California’s controversial $20 minimum wage for quick-service restaurant workers employed by companies with 60 or more locations is set to finally go into effect on Mon. April 1, after undergoing multiple revisions and pushback from the restaurant industry.Last fall, Gavin Newsom introduced and passed AB 1228, a modified compromise version of the original FAST Act, which increases the minimum wage for fast-food workers from $16 to $20, instead of the originally proposed $22 an hour.Most recently,

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15:29

Are the restaurant menu items for April Fool's Day...

First Bite ·

2024/03/28

Ahead of April Fool’s Day, chains have been releasing menu items that may be real. This is a tradition in the restaurant industry where brands promote various menu items that seem outlandish in the hopes that they will drive customers to their stores.As you’ll hear ahead, some of these menu items have been so popular that they’ve joined menus permanently. Others haven’t even existed.This year in particular, there are a few chains that seem to be embracing pickles which, in light of yesterday’s

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11:12

Understanding the latest restaurant pizza trends

First Bite ·

2024/03/27

Papa Johns has introduced trendy cup-and-crisp pepperoni to three of its menu items as a limited-time offer, the pizza chain said Monday.Its new Crispy Cuppy ’Roni is a thicker version of the popular pizza topping with crispy curled edges.The new topping is available on the NY Style Crispy Cuppy ’Roni Pizza for $13.99, in the Crispy Cuppy ’Roni Papadia folded sandwich for $6.99, and in the miniature Crispy Cuppy ’Roni Papa Bites for $4.99. They’re being offered now to Papa Rewards loyalty program

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09:17

What the increased marketing spend by certain...

First Bite ·

2024/03/26

No, you’re not imagining things and there is no need to adjust your TV. There really are more ads and marketing campaigns from restaurant companies on air, on your phones, on your streaming services, on your social media feeds.An increase in advertising/marketing spend was one of the major themes from this latest round of earnings calls, in fact, and it’s a strategy shared by brands from Brinker to BJs, and from Shake Shack to Dutch Bros. There’s a reason for this (or several). Firstly, we’ve

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11:41

How technology is improving to help restaurants...

First Bite ·

2024/03/25

Although the restaurant industry has been experimenting with dynamic pricing for years, public discourse around the topic grew last month with the news thatWendy’s would be testingdynamic pricing in 2025. Though much of the social media buzz can be attributed to the public conflation of dynamic pricing with surge pricing, there is no doubt that variable menu prices — whether they are affected by the time of day, geographic location, or changing consumer needs — are key to restaurant optimization in

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13:00

Digging into the latest restaurant CEO change

First Bite ·

2024/03/22

Rob Lynch is leaving his role as CEO of Papa Johns to take on the same position at Shake Shack, effective May 20. Lynch succeeds Randy Garutti, who announced hisintentions to retire in Decemberafter leading the company for more than two decades. Garutti will transition as an advisor in May to ensure a smooth transition.Lynch was hired at Papa Johns in August 2019 and helped drive record global systemwide sales of over $5 billion at the company. He has also led the company’s growth to approximately

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14:37

How DEI goals have changed for restaurants since 2020

First Bite ·

2024/03/21

Earlier this week, after Starbucks’ annual shareholders’ meeting, company investors voted on several initiatives, including a new executive compensation package that would omit diversity and sustainability goals from bonus considerations for top leadership at the company. Shareholders voted overwhelmingly (90% yes votes) to approve the new compensation packages, though the vote is technically nonbinding to company policy.This bonus initiative was first introduced in 2020 as a company-wide effort to

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14:09

What the demise of the metaverse means for restaurant...

First Bite ·

2024/03/20

In Sept. 2022, Starbucksofficially unveiledits highly anticipated foray into the metaverse: Starbucks Odyssey. At the time, NFTs and the metaverse were the trendy tech innovation of the moment, with businesses across many sectors scrambling to figure out how to cash in on the popularity of Web3, which was promised to be a more immersive “Internet of the Future.” Eighteen months after unveiling Starbucks Odyssey, the Seattle-based coffee company has confirmed that the program — which has been in beta

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10:47

How Dutch Bros is answering consumer demand as it grows

First Bite ·

2024/03/19

For an emerging brand in hyper-growth mode like Dutch Bros, it can be easy to primarily focus on physical expansion into new markets. But as new Dutch Bros CEO Christine Barone said during Thursday’s J.P. Morgan forum, while the Grants Pass, Ore.-based coffee brand is keeping development front of mind — with Florida as its next target market — she wants to emphasize diverse means of growth.For Dutch Bros, that means focusing on smart development with fanbase growth in mind, building brand awareness,

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10:32

How the changes to the joint employer rule could...

First Bite ·

2024/03/18

A U.S. federal judge in Texas blocked the broadened National Labor Relations Board joint employer rule that was introduced in October and would have made franchisees and franchisors jointly liable for labor terms and conditions such as union contracts, pay, scheduling, and more. The rule, which was supposed to have gone into effect Monday, would have revived and updated an Obama-era rule that was limited in scopeduring the Trump Administration.In his decision, U.S. District Court Judge J. Campbell

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09:01

How Taco Bell is trying to appeal to even more people

First Bite ·

2024/03/15

Taco Bell now seems to be adjusting its strategy for younger consumers. Starting March 21, Taco Bell will offer a new Cantina Chicken Menu. With this menu launch, the company projects to use more than 2.5 million additional pounds of produce in 2024.Not only is this new menu aimed at capturing younger consumers’ protein preferences, it was also created to “tackle misconceptions” about only being a late-night brand, the company said. During the company’s recentLive Mas Live event in Las Vegas, CMO

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10:08

How the new crackdown on junk fees could impact your...

First Bite ·

2024/03/14

Last fall, President Biden announced a proposed crackdown on “junk fees” or misleading consumer-facing surcharges that are usually included in the fine print before a purchase is made. The Federal Trade Commission’s proposed trade regulation rule would require businesses to include all required fees in the original listed price. While media attention on this proposed crackdown had initially focused on companies and industries like Ticketmaster, airlines, hotels, and car rental agencies, the FTC rule

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12:48

Why U.S. restaurant brands are focusing so heavily on...

First Bite ·

2024/03/13

KFC’s newest restaurant in Rome, Italy, marks the company’s 30,000thglobal location. The company announced the milestone, noting that a new KFC location opens somewhere in the world every 3.5 hours on average.In 2023, KFC opened nearly 2,7000 restaurants across 96 countries, a 10% development pace and setting a brand development record. More than 80% of unit growth came from 15 publicly tradedfranchisees. KFC accounts for nearly 50% of parent company Yum Brands’ divisional operating growth.During

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09:54

How big restaurant brands are taking back the snack...

First Bite ·

2024/03/12

Potbelly just introduced a new six-pack cookie box, available in-store or digitally. In a statement, Potbelly’s CMO David Daniels said, “Our fans have an insatiable love for our cookies and now we’re making it easier for them to enjoy together with others, share as a gift, or save for later.”In late 2022, Subway also launched six- and 12-pack “Cookie Bundles,” along with the debut of itslimited-edition footlong cookiethat is now available nationwide.Meanwhile, KFC recently introduced its

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128 results

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