Food and Beverage Industry

The Perfect Bacon Bowl Is Totally the Next Snuggie

The Perfect Bacon Bowl has sold 2 million units in its first four months

By Josh Sanburn April 22, 2014

Doh! Government Proposal Could Make Beer Prices Soar

There's a lot to hate about changes proposed by the FDA, which could push prices higher not only for beer, but for milk and meat as well. The new regulations are being bashed as wasteful...

By Brad Tuttle April 21, 2014

Big Comeback Planned for the All-American Drive-in Burger Joint

The once-ubiquitous drive-in restaurant--you know, the kind with rollerskating waitresses--will be seen again very soon in all parts of the country, even in states where you wouldn't want to eat outside for much of the...

By Brad Tuttle April 18, 2014

Panera’s Founder Plans to Revolutionize Dining

Panera Bread is changing the way customers interact with its cafes thanks to an across-the-board digital transformation involving self-service kiosks and from-the-table mobile ordering—a strategy four years in the making from founder and CEO Ron Shaich

By Josh Sanburn April 17, 2014

Fast Food Favorites Cook Up a Breakfast War

It's not just Taco Bell and McDonald's who are duking it out to win over America's early diners. Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, Jack in the Box, Hardee's and Carl's Jr. have all stepped up to the plate recently with new marketing campaigns or menu items

By Brad Tuttle April 17, 2014

Your Grilling Season Budget Just Went Up in Smoke

It's finally the time of year to break out the barbecue and cook outdoors. Now if only you could afford some steaks to toss on the grill. This shouldn't be coming as a surprise. Beef...

By Brad Tuttle April 14, 2014

Social Media Is Resurrecting Chain Restaurant Menu Items

Changing the world, a few hundred calories at a time! Olive Garden customers have spoken, and the struggling casual dining chain, understandably concerned about losing some of its most loyal patrons, has listened. A few...

By Brad Tuttle April 11, 2014

It's High Time to Mock Pretentious, Pricey Vodka, Says Cheaper Vodka Brand

Smirnoff has launched a "cut the velvet rope" marketing campaign, openly mocking high-end bottle service at clubs and the trend of pretentious overpriced artisan vodkas. It's an obviously self-serving idea from a mass-market vodka brand...

By Brad Tuttle April 11, 2014

Here's Why GrubHub's Stock Market Debut Really Matters

Online food ordering service GrubHub is seemingly delivering the goods on Wall Street today. The company’s stock is off to a quick start, rising from its initial price of $26 to more than $36 at...

By Victor Luckerson April 4, 2014

Why That Creepy Character in the Cereal Aisle Is Eyeing Your Child

If your child begs, pleads, and throws a hissy fit to get you to buy the sugary cereal featuring a cartoon mascot on the box, all is going according to plan. It’s fairly common knowledge...

By Brad Tuttle April 2, 2014

The Trend Miller and Budweiser May Want to Start Worrying About

Are you tempted to taste Hell? In the mood for a Hooker? Or perhaps it’s time to try Zevia? The latter may sound like a mood-enhancing drug, but it’s not. Neither are the others—not exactly,...

By Brad Tuttle April 1, 2014

Peak Pizza Is Here: American Appetite for Pizza Cools Off

Pizza may have peaked. Pizza consumption in the U.S. has increased year after year, but forecasts indicate that we may not be able to stomach much more. Americans eat an astonishing amount of pizza. That’s...

By Brad Tuttle March 31, 2014

The Resurgence of Cheap Old-School Mass Market Beer

Beer drinkers lost interest in one old-school pale lager, until the brew started being sold in cans from the 1970s. An endorsement from Ron Burgundy probably helped too. The recent evolution of alcoholic beverage preferences...

By Brad Tuttle March 29, 2014

Your Local Dinky Mom and Pop Liquor Shop Is in Major Trouble

Total Wine & More, a rapidly expanding megastore chain with cheap prices, huge selection, and a reputation as "Toys R Us for adults," understandably has mom-and-pop liquor shop owners feeling like they could use a...

By Brad Tuttle March 27, 2014

Here's How to Gorge On $1.99 All-You-Can-Eat Pancakes

If the Roy Rogers fast food franchise is known for anything, it's the signature "Fixin's Bar," where diners customize sandwiches with pickles, onions, lettuce, and condiments. Now the Bar is full of whipped cream, syrups,...

By Brad Tuttle March 25, 2014

Quiznos Gets Toasted: Sub Chain Files for Chapter 11

The company, which oversees almost 2,100 franchise locations around the world, filed for bankruptcy protection Friday, but will continue to serve toasted subs to customers. It's planning a reorganization to cut more than $400 million in debt

By Noah Rayman March 14, 2014

Why Everything Is Going to Cost $3.14 on Friday

In celebration of Pi Day, restaurants and bars around the country are hosting tons of nerdy math-themed promotions this Friday, March 14 (3.14), most involving pizzas or slices of pie for $3.14. Also: cheap drinks!...

By Brad Tuttle March 13, 2014

Lose an Hour of Sleep, Get a Free Donut

Ahead of National Donut Day, Krispy Kreme is offering one free glazed donut per customer on Sunday as part of its daylight savings promotion, which should soften the blow for those who lost an hour of sleep this weekend

By Brad Tuttle March 9, 2014

Drink Up! Later Last Call Coming to a City Near You?

More cities want to be known as the city that never sleeps. Or at least as the city that isn't so lame as to force bars to shut down soon after midnight. Boston has a...

By Brad Tuttle March 7, 2014

Sweet! The Smooth Rise of Non-Bitter Not-Quite-Beer Beverages

Brews enjoyed by evenly by men and women

By Brad Tuttle March 6, 2014

Budweiser Wants Baseball's Opening Day to Be a National Holiday

Should the season opener for the national pastime be a national holiday? Budweiser thinks so. This week, the self-proclaimed King of Beers launched an online petition at WhiteHouse.gov, with the goal of getting 100,000 signatures...

By Brad Tuttle February 25, 2014

Custom-Order 'Mix-In' Ice Cream Chains Realize They're a Rip-off

Executives in charge of two sister ice cream chains did a funny thing: They did some price comparisons in the field, talked to consumers, and concluded their “value proposition was out of whack.” That's according...

By Brad Tuttle February 21, 2014

South Koreans Slam Down 11.2 Shots of Hard Liquor Each Week

When it comes to hard drinking, they rule

By Per Liljas February 11, 2014

'Dumb Starbucks' Store Mocks Parody Laws

Would you like milk in your dumb iced coffee? A concept shop in Los Angeles is taking trademark to task by lampooning the Seattle-based coffee chain with a direct copy of its stores, but with the word 'dumb' before everything

By Dan Kedmey February 10, 2014

The Only Kind of Restaurant Flourishing in Today's Economy

The fast food business is in a funk. "Casual dining" sit-down restaurant chains are down in the dumps. But the folks who used to frequent these establishments aren't necessarily eating out less. Instead, the numbers...

By Brad Tuttle February 7, 2014

Who Really Owns Your Craft Beer?

Based on their labels, and even by the long histories detailed on their websites, you'd never know some seemingly independent, seemingly craft beers are owned by gigantic corporations. Thanks to rounds of industry buyouts, combined...

By Brad Tuttle February 6, 2014

Subway Bread Is About to Change in a Drastic Way

More than 60,000 people have signed a petition

By Noah Rayman February 6, 2014

Anheuser-Busch to Buy Blue Point Brewing Company

The world's largest brewer is adding to its empire

By Christopher Matthews February 5, 2014

McDonald's Made the Right Move in Response to Gross 'Pink Slime'

It may seem like a bad idea to give your customers a behind-the-scenes look at a process some will find disgusting. But that's what McDonald's did by releasing a video showing how McNuggets are made....

By Brad Tuttle February 5, 2014

‘Walmart’s Worst Nightmare’ Is Expanding Massively

WinCo Foods is pushing into one of the country's hottest grocery store markets, Texas—and the competition is quaking in their boots. This week, WinCo Foods, a low-cost grocery chain based in Idaho that one supermarket...

By Brad Tuttle February 5, 2014

Save That $4 Million! 3 Smart Super Bowl Non-Advertisers

It's debatable whether the $4 million spent to advertise during the Super Bowl is actually worth the money. This year, what with an awful, blowout of a game, it seemed like there were surely better,...

By Brad Tuttle February 3, 2014

Mayo Squeezes Out Mustard

The verdict is in: mayonnaise reigns supreme

By Denver Nicks January 30, 2014

Chocolate Toothpaste and the Rise of WTF Flavors

Consumers have gotten so used to hearing about "New!" and "Exciting!" products that marketers are resorting to extreme, bold, bizarre -- and perhaps even unappealing -- flavors to pique their curiosity. Toothpaste is not a...

By Brad Tuttle January 30, 2014

DVDs, Pizza, Porn: How One Video Store Chain Stays in Business

Last fall, when Blockbuster announced it would close the last of its storefronts, it seemed to officially end the era of the physical video rental model. Family Video, the country's largest operational video rental chain,...

By Brad Tuttle January 22, 2014

One Year Later, The Makers of ‘Pink Slime’ Are Hanging On, and Fighting Back

As the meat industry again makes news thanks to an endless stream of articles about horse meat masked as beef popping up all over Europe, the “pink slime” story is still playing itself out in courthouses, law offices and the one BPI plant still in operation.

By Josh Sanburn March 6, 2013

Food and Beverage Industry

The Fate of Our Nation Rests on School Lunches

Free Cone Day, Free Ice Cream at Haagen-Dazs Tuesday May 13

Fastest-Growing Alcoholic Beverage Category? It's Not Craft Beer

Free Pretzels! Hot Giveaway on Saturday to Celebrate National Pretzel Day