Commodities: All tricks, no treats last week in pizza operating costs

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

Falling stock prices and rising commodity costs make for unhappy pizza restaurateurs as we head into the week of tricks and treats.

CEOs of Wing Zone, Focus Brands, Captain D's, Backyard Burgers, Koti Pizza predict industry changes, trends

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

This year's Fast Casual Executive Summit wrapped up Tuesday night with insights from some of the industry's most successful CEOs.

Commodities: Domino's dives despite rosy Q3 financials

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

Late September's gain was last week's pain for Domino's in NYSE trading, but lower cheese and gas prices do soothe some of the hurt.

New Gatti's Pizza restaurant design: Sometimes separation is a good thing

October 5, 2017

The new ownership behind Gatti's Pizza broke ground on the longtime brand's first franchise location in seven years this week, this one on East Central Texas…

New Pieology concept puts customers in brand's R&D Department

Pieology Pizzeria opened its latest endeavor this week, Pieology Pizzeria R&D, a restaurant concept that gives customers a voice in the chain's decision-making…

Commodities: Most brands see sunny end to September in trading, fuel prices

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

Except for Pizza Hut parent Yum Brands' less-than-appetizing trading price trend, the last week of September was a fairly profitable one for major pizza brands.

7-Eleven launches fresh meals to compete with QSRs

7-Eleven is aiming squarely at the restaurant industry with a line of prepared foods to go in its sprawling network of northern Texas stores. Even the news…

3 tips for serving millennial consumers

by Niall Keane — CEO of SynergySuite, SynergySuite

Millennials recently became the largest generation in the workforce with over 53 million workers, ushering society into an unprecedented future.

Kansas City pizza truck earns points in building brand visibility, Part 2

by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times

The fast casual pizza concept is still new to a lot of people, and the food truck has improved customer awareness of this concept.

Kansas City pizza franchisee uses food truck to build brand visibility (Part 1)

by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times

Being an established restaurant operation, KC Pie brought some key advantages to launching a food truck, but still had to learn the nuances of the food truck…

Fazoli's 'Comeback Kid' shares turnaround story at London summit

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

"It was ugly," Fazoli's President and CEO Carl Howard exclaimed as he detailed the state of the chain when he arrived to lead it nine years ago. "I mean…

RemcoSPC introduces pizza ovens for food trucks and trailers

August 22, 2017

Remco Specialty Products Co. has introduced the Millennium 2000 CT2 and Daytona V4 carousel brick ovens for food trucks and trailers. The ovens are UL and NSF…

Study shows 'anytime eaters' here to stay: Are you ready?

The anytime eater is upon us and many chains have found that feeding "the new normal" requires a shift away from traditional meal packaging, both in portion…

The New Economy: It's all about restaurants

August 14, 2017

In Cleveland and New York City, more than a third of the new jobs added since 2015 are food and drink service industry positions, while the entire state of…

Gluten-free trend strong with 625 new products in 2 months

August 11, 2017

The gluten-free product and service certification concern Gluten Intolerance Group has put its official stamp of approval on at least 625 products in North…

Beverage Trends report: Customers ready to spend on drinks

August 9, 2017

The report surveyed hundreds of restaurant operators and consumers to find that sales in 2016 for most beverage categories from smoothies and juices to coffee…

Looking for ways to find and keep employees? NRA leaders offer insights

by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times

Given the reality of fewer young employees in the work force, the only options are to recruit more from other age groups or be more successful recruiting…

New way to 'try on' best new bottom line-building restaurant tech

July 25, 2017

POS device provider ParTech has partnered with cloud-based API software developer Omnivore to bridge the gap between restaurants and the tech developers and…

3 commonalities among Lyfe Kitchen, Urban Plates, Baskin Robbins brand-building strategies

by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times

Building a successful brand has three parts: storytelling, club making and country building, according to a branding expert at the National Restaurant Show.

Investing in technology? Restaurants share hits and misses

by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times

Companies need to do their research, and management has to be supportive for technology initiatives to succeed.