Big brands hoping to score with a variety of marketing tactics on Super Bowl Sunday

by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

Brands will fight for their piece of the pie on what the USDA describes as the  No. 2 food holiday of the year. Fifteen percent —  or about 48 million people …

Commodities: Stock values rebound, supply prices flatten

by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

The bottom line improved last week for pizza restaurateurs as stock prices for four major brands rebounded in value, and commodity prices overall either fell…

Gutting the 'gut feelings' from hiring: 2 restaurant companies' $40M story

by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

Who knew technology could help restaurateurs get the right human touch tableside? Two large restaurant companies tell their highly profitable story.

Seizing the media opp: Tricky, but potentially very rewarding

by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

Brand promotional opportunities are everywhere for the restaurant industry, and there may be no better examples of that than two national news events this week…

Commodities: A painful week for pizza stocks

by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

It was a fairly excruciating week for publicly traded pizza brands last week with prices in free fall from the start of trading last Monday.

4 functional factors fueling pizzeria design trends

by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

Three pizza brands that have recently implemented redesigns make it clear that industry changes are driving some of the most popular design trends.

New York City Domino's: We pay more

by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

At a time when the incoming administration in Washington shows little support for increasing the federal minimum wage or putting programs in place to assist…

Commodities: Prices for pizza-makers rise, but so do most pizza stocks

by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

The overall production tab for pizza restaurateurs took a hit last week in commodities trading when just about every basic need in the pizza-making and…

UK Pizza Hut delivering 'mood-enhancing' pizza on 'Blue Monday'

by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

In case you're unable to roll out of bed this time of year and didn't know it, this coming Monday is Blue Monday, the most depressing day of the year…

Can Smashburger's former CEO put Pie Five back on positive path?

by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

The last few years have been tough for Rave Restaurant Group, which owns Pie Five and Pizza Inn. Smasburger's former CEO, Scott Crane, however, stepped into…

Commodities: A (kinda) Happy New Year for pizza prices

by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

The first week of trading for 2017 brought mostly better news for pizza restaurateurs, who had a brutal end-of-year week on the markets for 2016.

The gluten-free opportunity: New rewards await

by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

Skyrocketing demand for gluten-free choices on restaurant menus is spawning creative solutions from restaurateurs, food service vendors and health watchdog…

Commodities: A rocky 2016 ends with pizza stocks falling

by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

The last week of 2016 was brutal for pizza stocks, which bled off significant value before the close of trading on Dec. 30.

'If in doubt, leave it out': The lessons in Cinnabon's Carrie Fisher tweet

by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

Cinnabon's poorly received social media post about Carrie Fisher, upon her death this week, has restaurant leaders talking about how best to prevent such…

5 findings inside diners' minds make great guides for 2017

by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

NPD Group recently outlined its top five predictions about the American diner's state of mind as it relates to the dinner plate. Taken collectively, these five…

Commodities: Down, down, down … for all but Domino's

by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

Commodities traders were invoking Johnny Cash's lyrics during trading in the week before Christmas, as prices on all pizza chain commodities except auto fuel…

A 'post mortem': Looking back at 2016's hard-learned lessons

by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

Experts weigh in on the eight lessons they learned in 2016 about the fine art of running a restaurant.

New food hub connects the local vegetable stand to biggest restaurant brands

by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

December 20, 2016

Restaurateurs hoping for a central, tech-connected marketplace linking small local farmers to the skyrocketing number of restaurants, whose customers are…

Commodities: Little joy to the world in pizza commodity prices

by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

Papa John's was the only pizza chain that reported a markedly profitable week, while the other three brands monitored here remaining essentially flat or…

Blast & Brew taps into allure of personal choice

by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

The new Blast & Brew pizza and beer franchise gives customers creative choice regarding what's on their plates and how they most prefer to wash it down. Here…