QSR Features

Buying into Booze

QSR magazine — Mon, 20 May 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Does the future of fast casual lie in alcohol?

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Freebirds has each found success in offering alcoholic beverages on the menu.

Image Credit:

Freebirds World Burrito

Fast-casual restaurants were once able to claim premium food, modern décor, and all-around upscale service as hallmarks of their category. But with more quick-service chains retooling in those areas to compete for post-recession consumers, fast casuals have been left to search for new ways to differentiate their brands.

For many, that search has turned up something typically better suited to fine- and casual-dining joints: booze.

The New Face of R&D

QSR magazine — Mon, 20 May 2013 04:05:00 +0000

Brands look to fans, social media to develop new products and flavors.

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Baskin-Robbins fans voted online to bring back the brand’s retired Pistachio Almond Fudge flavor.

Image Credit:

Baskin-Robbins

There’s no way around the truth that social media is now a critical tool for limited-service restaurant brands.

It plays an influential role in marketing and building brand identity, and allows concepts to reach out to and interact with fans and followers to build deeper relationships.

But using social media is about more than just advertising products and promotions on Facebook and Twitter.

Today, many brands in the industry are taking it a step further, using social media and crowdsourcing to help create new products and flavors.

The Great Migration

QSR magazine — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Fine-dining veterans are taking their talents to the fast-casual space.

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The Shula’s brand, founded by legendary NFL coach Don Shula, is banking on its new fast-casual concept Shula Burger for future growth.

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Shula Burger

On Fort Lauderdale, Florida’s 17th Street, tucked in the shadow of giants Chipotle and Panera Bread, an upstart burger joint dreams of someday entering the same upper ranks of the fast-casual world that those two brands helped create. Though the restaurant carries a familiar name, its vibe is decidedly fresh.

Welcome to Shula Burger.

No Business Like Show Business

QSR magazine — Fri, 17 May 2013 04:06:00 +0000

With dining becoming the new theater, can you sell tickets to your show?

Image Credit:

thinkStock.com

A couple of years ago, I embarked on a journey into the world of pop-up restaurants. After almost a decade of consulting, I decided it was time to take on a project that was a pure representation of my passions: food, wine, and creating unique hospitality experiences. Not to be held up by things like good sense, I decided to take a shot and started planning the event that would eventually change my life.

Coffee is King

QSR magazine — Fri, 17 May 2013 04:06:00 +0000

Burger King ups its coffee game to compete with other players in the industry.

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Burger King introduced 10 new specialty beverages, including roast and iced coffees and lattes.

Image Credit:

burger king

Forget quick-serve mainstays like burgers and fries. These days, limited-service brands are looking to coffee to beef up business, and Burger King is the latest chain to get in on the action.

Burger King’s customers can now enjoy 10 new specialty drinks, including iced coffees in a variety of flavors, roast coffees with a 100 percent Latin American Arabica custom blend, and lattes in multiple flavors.

How to Prevent Credit Card Fraud

QSR magazine — Thu, 16 May 2013 10:48:25 +0000

Criminals are getting smarter, which means operators must keep ahead of the curve with PCI compliance.

Image Credit:

thinkStock.com

Every merchant that accepts credit and debit cards is required to be compliant with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards (DSS), whose next set of standards will be released in October 2013. Yet despite these compliance requirements, the food and beverage industry had the highest percentage of data security investigations—at nearly 44 percent—for the second consecutive year, according to the Trustwave 2012 Global Security Report.

Safety, Security, Sales

QSR magazine — Thu, 16 May 2013 10:35:05 +0000

IP surveillance technology can deliver high ROI to quick-service operators.

Image Credit:

thinkStock.com

Traditionally, when quick serves plan security strategies, they address three main industry challenges: prevent shrinkage, guard against in-store and drive-thru robbery, and protect the company from fraudulent lawsuits. Operators need to carefully examine security solutions that will provide the greatest visibility into store activities and will hold up in court. However, quick serves should not pass up the opportunity to simultaneously boost sales by leveraging analytics tied to surveillance systems data.

The Other Side of Super

QSR magazine — Tue, 14 May 2013 04:06:00 +0000

Whole grains, nuts, and seeds offer a superfood punch to ordinary menus.

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Oatmeal, a whole-grain superfood, is the fastest- growing item on breakfast menus, according to Datassential.

Image Credit:

thinkstock.com

Superfoods have swept the culinary world into a frenzy, enticing consumers with a taste of the exotic and courting them with nutrition and functionality, to the point where restaurants across the country are trying to stake a claim in this fledgling movement.

Quick-service restaurants are keeping in stride, and many have ventured beyond the common açai and goji berry superfruits, as well as the kale super vegetable. Many quick serves are now leveraging a wider spectrum of superfoods, using whole grains, nuts, and seeds in fresh and innovative ways.

One to Watch: Salsarita’s Fresh Cantina

QSR magazine — Tue, 14 May 2013 04:06:00 +0000

Former McAlister’s Deli exec gives the fresh-Mex concept a new lease on life and opportunities for growth.

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Salsarita’s Fresh Cantina

Prior to purchasing Salsarita’s Fresh Cantina from its founder in 2011, CEO Phil Friedman spent 11 years expanding McAlister’s Deli from 27 to 300 units.

These days, he and Salsarita’s president and COO Larry Reinstein are looking to grow the fresh-Mex concept. And grow it has, with a double-digit percentage growth in average unit volume that Friedman attributes to menu refinements he’s pushed forward since taking over the chain.

Can Quick Serves Save the World?

QSR magazine — Fri, 10 May 2013 10:00:00 +0000

In the second of a two-part series on local sourcing, QSR examines how this process can change the face of limited service—and the food system as a whole.

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Colorado-based Mad Greens has experimented with hydroponics to source hyper-local produce for its stores.

Image Credit:

VertiFresh

No longer is local sourcing just a utopian ideal. It’s a practice coming to life and continually gaining momentum in foodservice, with the number of local ingredients on menus growing by 73 percent over the last four years, according to market research firm Mintel.

But, at its most basic level, it’s a tale of two industries.