Food & Beverage News

Amid consumers’ heightened focus on immune health during the coronavirus pandemic, Smoothie King is launching a new variety of its Immune Builder Smoothie. Made with organic spinach, kale, carrots, bananas and dates, the Immune Builder Veggie Superfood Smoothie features an electrolyte blend and apple pineapple juice. The new smoothie joins the mixed berry variety in…

The National Restaurant Association is offering two programs to help members and their employees stay healthy and safe. Through its new partner, Healthiest You, the Association is making a telemedicine option available to its members. The service is $7/month per employee. There are no co-pays, and all family members can use the service. Those interested…

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers and Vintage Capital Management, LLC, an investment firm with beneficial ownership of approximately 11.6 percent of the company’s outstanding shares, announced that they have reached an agreement to appoint Anthony Ackil to the Company’s Board of Directors, effective immediately. Ackil is the fifth independent director to be added to the Board…

After a rocky few years involving a multimillion-dollar family Lawsuit and a family bankruptcy, storied steakhouse chain the Palm is no longer in the hands of the family who launched it in New York City 93 years ago. Massive Houston-based Landry’s — billionaire Tilman Fertitta’s company behind restaurants ranging from Morton’s the Steakhouse to Rainforest Cafe — has purchased the…

From the addition of plant-based menu options to local sourcing and sustainable takeout packaging, restaurants have been tackling sustainability issues with gusto — and the industry as a whole is taking its role as steward of sustainability seriously. “Faced with constantly evolving challenges including production methods, sourcing and waste management, chefs are striving to improve…

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers CEO Paul Murphy cracked open the casual chain’s playbook Tuesday to reveal the next steps in the burger concept’s turnaround plan, including the rollout of Donatos-brand pizza to its 550 units within three years. The introduction will cost the company and its franchisees about $91 million all told, or roughly $165,000…

Executives of Papa John’s International, Inc. in fiscal 2020 expect strong earnings per share companywide and continued improvement in North American comparable store sales growth, but in late February the coronavirus appeared to have affected the company’s stock price negatively. The coronavirus has affected 210 restaurants in China, which has the company anticipating a negative…

Jeremy Biser recalls growing up in Western Maryland, where going to Roy Rogers was a treat. Biser is now executive vice president of the 52-year-old Western-themed brand, which oversaw nearly 650 restaurants at its peak back in the late 1980s. The company began 2020 with 48 units—24 company-owned and 24 franchised—but Biser believes there’s an…

Operators across the country know recruiting employees is a challenge, especially in this tight labor market. With the right training, underserved young adults — unemployed, not in school — can be set up to succeed in front- and back-of-house positions in everything from quickservice to tableservice operations. How do we connect employers with these potential…

With Wendy’s launching breakfast nationwide, McDonald’s is sending its top breakfast player, the Egg McMuffin, into battle. In a clear move to disrupt Wendy’s March 2 national breakfast launch, the Chicago-based quick service chain announced plans to give away the iconic breakfast sandwich on Monday. The company is declaring March 2 “National Egg McMuffin Day.”  “While we’re giving…