Leading Australian retail food brand manager and franchisor Retail Food Group Limited (RFG) today announced that they will look to grow their Donut King franchise in China. RFG has reported that they have finalised the terms of a Master Licence Agreement (MLA) with Shanghai based Mak Brands Limited concerning the proliferation of the Donut King franchise system within China. The Agreement is performance based for an initial term of 20 years, and growth in the Chinese marketplace is based... ...Read more »
Crust Gourmet Pizza Bars and SumoSalad have confirmed their reputations as retailers to watch following the NRA American Express Rewards for Excellence last night. The awards, organized by the National Retail Association (NRA), were held for the 14th time, with Crust presented with a specially created encouragement award in the Best Food Retailer category after the judges found it very hard to split Crust and SumoSalad. The competition for Best Food Retailer incorporated a strong list of... ...Read more »
Recent research conducted at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil into the adverse effects of trans fats on our health, has shown that these can be passed from mother to child through the breast milk, renewing demands for trans fats to be banned. Trans fats are attractive for the food industry due to their extended shelf life and flavour stability, and have displaced natural solid fats and liquid oils in many areas of food processing. While further studies are required to verify... ...Read more »
A record fine of $132,000 has been handed to the owner of a chain of Sydney poultry meat shops for a string of food law offences, Primary Industries Minister, Ian Macdonald, said today.Hai Bao Chen, the proprietor of five shops trading as Obo Fresh Chicken, was convicted of 22 charges under the Food Act including unhygienic premises, substandard maintenance and poor pest control. In February this year, the company was also fined nearly $12,000 for illegally adding sulphur dioxide preservative... ...Read more »
The economic downturn in America has led to a number of initiatives from McDonald’s seeking to lure customers, but the strategies now seem to be frustrating some franchisees. US comparable sales for the company rose 4.3% in May as their promotions, which included providing a small menu of items at $1 and the use of giveaways, provided steady growth. Giveaways have so far included a two-day burrito giveaway and free coffee on Mondays in some areas. Franchisees dealing with rising costs,... ...Read more »
The US restaurant industry is taking a hit as economic struggles plague the country. New consumer research from Mintel reveals that 54% of people who dine out regularly are restricting their restaurant spending because of economic worries. Rising gas and food prices, home foreclosures and a fear of recession have caused many Americans to curb out-to-eat spending. Seventy per cent of those attempting to cut back are saving money by going out to eat less, rather than by choosing cheaper... ...Read more »
McDonald’s Corporation has switched to trans-fat free oil in all of their US and Canada restaurant outlets, CEO Jim Skinner said this week at the annual shareholders meeting. The change has only been to some of their products so far, with all products expected to be trans-fat free before the end of the year. McDonald’s has also committed to reducing trans fat levels in most of their outlets worldwide with plans to decrease trans-fat per serving to 0.5 grams in the Asia-Pacific and other... ...Read more »
Pizza Hut, the world’s largest pizza company, have recently implemented a new online ordering system dubbed the “virtual waiter” to enhance their online ordering capabilities. The upgrade will enable the system to match customer food selections with similar orders to suggest the most popular mealtime combinations. The update to their system comes just a year after the introduction of online ordering to their website and was in response to consumer demand, according to... ...Read more »
As public concern about the obesity epidemic has grown over the past five years so too has the number of stores providing healthier choices on their menus. According to research by the Heart Foundation, 88% of Australian consumers now believe that food retailers have a social responsibility to provide healthier options to consumers. Consumers are therefore demanding to be provided with healthier options and companies adapting to the changing preferences are doing so with great success. With... ...Read more »
Burger King is set to commit to new franchises to help grow the brand. They are keen to create ‘Whopper Bars’ which will be a more exciting experience for the customer with the burgers to be made in front of them. The stores are designed to be small so that they can fit into spaces where a Burger King outlet would not be feasible. At the moment the concept is still being explored in more detail and the first Whopper Bar is not expected to open in America until early next year.... ...Read more »