Nation's Restaurant News on the Go #77
Nation's Restaurant News
The #1 source of news and business intelligence for restaurant and foodservice industry professionals
Ron Ruggless, Senior Editor for NRN, here. Nation’s Restaurant News is owned by London-based Informa Connect, which has a large events component, so I got the pleasure this week of playing moderator at one of the gatherings that lead up to the big October CREATE: The Future of Foodservice Oct. 9-11 in Nashville, Tenn.
Johnsonville Foodservice is sponsoring a number of CREATE Road Shows, and this week's was in Dallas (following one earlier this year in Atlanta) at Café Momentum.
Our panelists were outstanding, and they included: Becca McKintyre, vice president of culinary and supply chain at Chicago-based Craveworthy Brands; Alex Eagle, CEO of Austin, Texas-based Freebirds World Burrito; and Clay Dover, CEO of Dallas-based Velvet Taco.
They addressed topics as varied as value in a discounting environment and artificial intelligence.
McKintyre had a great suggestion for operators wishing to dip toes into A.I. without a flow-blown commitment. She said her team will put transcripts of meetings through a tool like Chat-GPT and let it find any questions that were left unanswered or meeting topics that were not completed.
The Road Show was worth it for that tip alone.
Among other topics in the news this week:
Hooters closes dozens of restaurants
Hooters is the latest casual dining chain to close a significant number of locations amid a challenging operating environment where costs remain high, and consumers become more discerning. Reports of abrupt closures in markets from Louisville, Kentucky, to Bryan, Texas, to Lakeland, Florida, began spreading Sunday evening. About 40 restaurants around the U.S. have been shuttered, according to local news reports.
The company confirmed the closures to Nation’s Restaurant News Monday morning, sharing in a statement: “Like many restaurants under pressure from current market conditions, Hooters has made the difficult decision to close a select number of underperforming stores. Ensuring the well-being of our staff is our priority in these rare instances. With new Hooters restaurants opening domestically and internationally, new Hooters frozen products launching at grocery stores, and the Hooters footprint expanding into new markets with both company and franchise locations, this brand of 41 years remains highly resilient and relevant. We look forward to continuing to serve our guests at home, on the go and at our restaurants here in the U.S. and around the globe.”
Pizza Hut introduces Chicago-style tavern pies and eight new toppings
Pizza Hut has launched a new pizza format, Chicago Tavern-Style Pizza, along with several new pizza toppings.
Tavern pizza is a thin-crust pie usually sliced into squares that is widely eaten in the Windy City, much more so than the deep-dish pies for which the city is better known.
Additionally, Pizza Hut introduced eight new ingredients available on any pizza.
Rachel Antalek, the chain’s chief food innovation officer, told the attendees of a launch party for the new pies at Mister Paradise, a bar in New York City’s East Village, that thin crusts such as those used in the new tavern pies were Pizza Hut’s first crusts and are in line with the way people want to eat today.
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Raising Cane’s opens a flagship restaurant on Nashville’s Broadway Street
About a year after opening a flagship restaurant in New York City’s iconic Times Square, Raising Cane’s is now going big in the Music City, opening a flagship restaurant on Nashville’s Broadway Steet. The restaurant, on the corner of Broadway and Third Avenue, is housed in a building originally built in 1891 and features designs from local artists that pay homage to country music legends. Other elements of note include 1.2 million rhinestones, a Johnny and June Cash tribute booth, and a Loretta Lynn-signed top. The company also has flagship locations in South Beach, Chicago, and Las Vegas, with more to come.?
Cracker Barrel to undergo largest menu revamp in brand history
Cracker Barrel is officially unveiling its largest menu test in the struggling family dining chain’s history. The menu overhaul, which will be tested for a limited time at select Texas restaurants, is part of Cracker Barrel’s strategic transformation that was announced last month.
The 20-menu item test, which includes green chile cornbread and banana pudding, began in February at a singular store, and has now expanded to 14 Texas Cracker Barrel locations, available now through Aug. 5. Highlights of the menu revamp include:
Nothing Bundt Cakes outlines its plan to become a $1 billion brand
Nothing Bundt Cakes is as niche as it gets in this industry, selling bundt cakes of various sizes and flavors. The company’s history, growth, and economic model have proven that occupying such a space works really, really well. The company was founded in 1997 and recently opened its 600th bakery. In 2023, the company flirted with $675 million in sales and has since surpassed $750 million, according to CEO Dolf Berle, who joined last August. His goal is to get to over $1 billion by the end of 2027.
“We have a solid shot at that,” he said during a recent interview. No doubt the Roark Capital-backed company has at least a strong tailwind. Its sales, according to Technomic data, are up by nearly $283 million since 2019, while its footprint has nearly doubled. If Nothing Bundt Cakes does reach that billion-dollar milestone, it will be among the top 58 restaurant brands by sales in the country, per Technomic data. For added context, other chains at or near $1 billion include Marco’s Pizza, Shake Shack, First Watch, and El Pollo Loco.
CKE Restaurants CMO Jennifer Tate on free burgers, influencer marketing, and separating the Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s brands
On this bonus episode of Extra Serving, a podcast from Nation’s Restaurant News, we’re sharing a conversation between senior editor Bret Thorn and CKE Restaurants chief marketing officer Jennifer Tate.
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