| Yum! Brands News | |
| | Yum!Now News | |
| | Competitor Intelligence | |
| | Industry Trends | |
| | Policy & Regulatory News | |
| | | |
KFC announced it will acquire 218 restaurants from its largest franchisee EG Group in the U.K. and Ireland. Once the deal is complete, all privately-owned EG Group's KFC U.K. and Ireland businesses will come under KFC U.K. and Ireland management. The deal is expected to be finalized by the end of the first half of 2024. No financial terms of the deal have been disclosed.
|
In China, KFC has released a bucket-shaped electric cooker. The mini electric cooker is shaped like a classic sharing bucket but with snowflake Christmas motifs. KFC is also teaming up with Lavazza for two Panettone fruitcakes. The topic “KFC Italian Christmas Month” has received over 10 million views on Weibo.
|
KFC South Africa will be donating every R2 from KFC Add Hope during December to Gift of the Givers and will also match the amount donated during the month. Andra Nel, marketing manager of brand & purpose at KFC South Africa, said that through their partnership with Gift of the Givers, they will be able to feed more children and expand the reach of Gift of the Givers’ hunger program.
|
Thanks to Pizza Hut U.S., anyone delivering packages during the holiday season will be able to cash in a $25 gift card to Pizza Hut. Starting December 6, customers can order a “reverse delivery mat,” a doormat that resembles a cardboard pizza box with the words “Leave a box, get a box” and a QR code that drivers can scan to redeem a gift card code for a free pizza for themselves. Lindsay Morgan, CMO at Pizza Hut, told CNN the company plans to give away $100,000 worth of free pizza for those delivery drivers.
|
| At the recent Marketing-Interactive Digital Marketing Asia 2023 conference, Jayss Rajoo, director of marketing and food innovation at Pizza Hut Singapore, shared how the chain has used digital transformation to propel itself forward. “Using AI really helps small teams like us to make calculated decisions on the fly, have little turnaround time and differentiates Pizza Hut from our competitors,” Rajoo said. |
Taco Bell U.S. has brought back its Double Decker Taco to menus for a limited time. The Double Decker Taco made a return last year after it was chosen by fans over the Enchirito during an in-app voting contest. Guests can also order the Double Decker Taco Supreme, which adds diced tomatoes and reduced-fat sour cream.
|
Taco Bell U.S. is giving college students a helping hand with the release of the Taco Bell at Home SOS Kit, which includes mild and hot flavored taco shells, Taco Bell sauces in all four heats and two seasoning packets. The kits proved widely popular on their release. "Due to incredibly high demand, we are pausing sales of the Taco Bell at Home SOS Kit on Amazon for the remainder of Tues., Dec. 5,” a representative for Taco Bell At Home said in a statement to FOX Business. “We know this time of year is busy for college students, so to give more fans a fair shot at getting their SOS kits, we plan to reopen the Amazon storefront at 12 p.m. ET on Wed., Dec. 6."
|
| Did you know about these Pizza Hut job training programs? |
Around the world, Pizza Hut is fueling job training programs through its Equal Slice for Everyone social purpose framework. In partnership with Yum!’s Unlocking Opportunity Initiative, they’re changing the future for women in South Africa, young adults in Brazil and Sri Lanka, and RGMs in El Salvador. Watch to learn more about how the brand is making a difference in the communities it calls home.
|  | (For Yum! Eyes Only) |
|
Restaurant Brands International Executive Chairman Patrick Doyle spoke about how its four brands and its scale outside of the United States remains an advantage for the company. “What's important — and I think we're getting very right now — is that you have empowered presidents of those businesses that are going to move quickly that you don't lose the entrepreneurialism that you might have as a single-brand company,” he told attendees at the Morgan Stanley Global Consumer & Retail Conference.
|
At the recent Morgan Stanley Global Consumer & Retail conference, Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan discussed the company’s goals and strategies for innovation, customization and further improving the employee experience. Narasimhan noted that as part of improving the employee experience, the company has already increased average compensation by 50% and by 2025, it will be effectively doubled.
|
GPS Hospitality has been named by Burger King as its developer of the year at the 2023 Burger King North America Franchisee Convention. The Atlanta-based company was recognized for its operations scorecard and development initiatives for the Burger King brand, including 22 remodels and new restaurant openings in 2023. GPS Hospitality operates more than 400 Burger King restaurants in 13 states.
|
Panera has unveiled a gift card that can be directly used towards membership in its Unlimited Sip Club. The Panera Unlimited Sip Club offers 26 unlimited coffee, tea and iced beverages for just one flat monthly or annual rate. The club costs $11.99 per month or $99 for an annual subscription.
|
Burger King is bringing back BK Melts and Cheesy Tots to its menu this holiday season. The BK Melts comes in three varieties: the Classic Melt, Bacon Melt and Shroom n' Swiss Melt.
|
CNN looked at how the growth of ghost kitchens has stalled as people have returned to eating at restaurants in person and ordering at drive-thrus. It reported on the recent announcement by Kitchen United that it would sell or close all of its locations and noted how Wendy’s and Applebee's have both closed or abandoned virtual kitchens. As people began returning to restaurants, the “mystery meal world of virtual restaurants wasn’t as necessary,” said Stephen Zagor, an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School. “We care a lot about what my restaurant is about, and how fresh and delicious the food is.”
|
DoorDash will raise the fees restaurants and consumers are charged in New York City after it was forced to raise the pay of its drivers by a state appellate court’s affirmation last week of lower courts’ rulings on a minimum wage the city set specifically for delivery drivers. “As we have repeatedly make clear in recent months, the ill-conceived, extreme minimum pay rate for food delivery workers in New York City will have significant consequences for everyone who uses our platform,” it said in alerting restaurants and consumers about a change in fees.
|
The Happy Customer Index, based on Merchant Centric’s proprietary data, found that restaurant customers seem less enthused by their digital experiences as their dine-in one. “Guests tell us that the digital experience is not nearly as good as dining in; generally, about three quarters of a star to a full star lower,” said Merchant Centric Co-Founder Adam Leff. “However, delivery services have been closing the gap on the to-go experience, improving at a faster rate.”
|
PYMNTS looked into how some restaurant companies like Shake Shack and Carrols have turned towards using more self-service kiosks. Carrols CEO Deborah Derby noted that the franchisee is “in the process” of adding self-service kiosks to 250 locations, while Shake Shack said on its last earnings call that the majority of in-store sales now come from self-service kiosks.
|
Nation's Restaurant News reported on the growing trend of restaurants using beer as an ingredient in their pizzas. According to Technomic, beer is the fastest-growing ingredient in pizza, up by 92.3% compared to last year. The 13-unit RAM Restaurant & Brewery offers a signature pizza crust made with the chain’s own Big Horn Hefeweizen instead of water. At Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, the chain’s own Vienna Red Lager goes into the barbecue sauce that’s used to finish its Voodoo Chicken Pizza.
|
The Michigan Supreme Court will hear arguments on Thursday involving a 2018 minimum wage ballot initiative. The initiative was expected to raise the minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2022. Lawmakers originally backed the initiative, then changed it. In late 2018, Republican lawmakers used an unprecedented strategy, essentially passing the initiatives themselves, without asking voters to weigh in.
|
|
|
