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KFC U.K. and Ireland's new Stuffing Tower Burger, which was released as part of its Christmas menu, is receiving love from fans on social media. TikToker Luis Corselli called the burger "next level" and "unreal."
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This month’s episode of Taco Bell CEO Mark King’s Recipe for Restless Creativity podcast featured a conversation with 17-year-old cyclist Liam Garner, who rode his bike from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, to Ushuaia, Argentina. The two discussed the details of his journey and how a ride from Southern California to a Northern Californian Taco Bell was one of the inspirations for his 20,000-mile bike adventure.
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Sources have said that the activist hedge fund Blackwells Capital intends to challenge Wendy's board of directors in a push for improvements to the company's financial performance. Blackwells plans to nominate several directors to Wendy's 12-member board. The challenge pits Blackwells against another activist hedge fund, Trian Fund Management, which owns a 16% stake in Wendy's and has three representatives serving on the company's board.
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McDonald's recently made a decision to take greater control of its China business and expand aggressively, which some analysts say may pay off down the line. One advantage for McDonald’s is that its majority partner in the China business, CITIC, provides top-level political cover, said Jason Yu, greater China managing director of Kantar Worldpanel. "Having a very powerful Chinese state-owned conglomerate as a partner means they are not going to be at the forefront of the geopolitical situation; that is quite important," Yu said.
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Recent Jack in the Box store openings in Louisville and Salt Lake City have averaged more than $100,000 in weekly sales per unit. “We’re going to pace ourselves into these markets, but we’re very excited about the way we’ve entered it,” CEO Darin Harris said during Jack’s Q4 earnings call. “We are excited about the playbook that we’ve used to enter the markets, and we’re going to continue to look for new opportunities like this.”
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More and more fast-food companies, including White Castle, Portillo’s and McDonald's, are focusing efforts on expanding in the Sunbelt region. White Castle opened its first Arizona location a few years back and it continues to be among the highest volume restaurants in the 350-unit system, according to White Castle Vice President Jamie Richardson, who added that Arizona is “an area of focus.” “The bulk of our growth is Texas, Florida, Arizona – all states with significant population growth,” Portillo’s CEO Michael Osanloo recently told analysts.
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Panera Bread has confidentially filed to go public again, people familiar with the matter told CNBC. In May, Panera announced a CEO transition and said the leadership changes were “in preparation for its eventual IPO.” The company was last publicly traded in 2017.
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According to a recent Technomic C-Store Consumer Market Brief, 54% of convenience store customers are reducing visits to restaurants because of higher menu prices, but only 30% of them said they are purchasing foodservice items from convenience stores less often. “Essentially, the growth opportunity for c-store foodservice is to take share from fast-food,” said Donna Hood Crecca, principal at Technomic, adding she expects this trend to persist well into 2024.
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Data on personal spending published Thursday by the U.S. government showed a cutback in discretionary categories to begin the fourth quarter. Holiday shopping was also less festive, with Black Friday spending down at a number of the country’s largest chains.
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The Bezos Earth Fund will put $57 million into climate food solutions that include developing low-methane livestock. It will also announce grants for alternative proteins and plant-rich diets next year, according to Andy Jarvis, director of the future of food program. The funding is part of a $1 billion commitment to tackle food’s impact on climate and nature. The organization is planning to allocate the remaining $850 million by 2030.
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Whataburger announced the third year of its Whataburger Feeding Student Success Scholarship program, which will offer $600,000 in scholarships to students. Awards are given in $5,000 increments to students planning to attend a college, university or not-for-profit vocational school.
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A New York state appeals court has turned away a challenge by Uber, DoorDash and Grubhub to New York City's minimum wage law for app-based delivery workers, allowing it to take effect. The law will require companies to pay delivery workers $17.96 an hour, which will rise to nearly $20 in April 2025. Companies can decide whether to pay workers hourly or per delivery, which would be based on the hours workers log into the app.
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Pa. State Representative Arvind Venkat has introduced two food safety bills that would affect Pennsylvanian restaurants. One bill would require the health department to create a food allergy awareness program, which would require restaurant employees to be educated about common food allergies. A second bill would ask restaurants to include possible allergens on their menus, as well as encourage wait staff to ask customers about any allergy concerns.
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Fast Company examined the demise of Zume Pizza, the automated pizza-making company. The company, which raised approximately $445 million over its existence, was liquidated in June 2023.
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