The Latest
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Aneurin Canham-Clyne/Restaurant Dive
8 restaurant industry trade shows to attend in 2025
This year is brimming with restaurant conferences and trade shows covering key issues for the sector, from franchising strategy to economic forecasts.
Updated Jan. 31, 2025 -
Permission granted by Square
Sponsored by SquareWhy fine dining-trained chef Alisa Reynolds switched to Square
Discover how Executive Chef Alisa Reynolds of My 2 Cents in Los Angeles embraced Square to enhance efficiency and innovation in her restaurant.
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Courtesy of Dine Brands
Dine Brands opens first US dual-branded Applebee’s/IHOP restaurant
The company will debut a total of 15 co-branded units stateside through 2026, bringing its total count of global co-branded units to nearly 30.
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Tero Vesalainen via Getty Images
Uber sues DoorDash over alleged anti-competitive practices
Uber claims that if a DoorDash merchant wants to work with Uber Eats for first-party delivery, DoorDash threatens higher fees or lower placement on its app.
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Permission granted by Saucy by KFC
KFC US promotes CMO to president
Catherine Tan-Gillespie will take over from Tarun Lal as U.S. president for the chicken chain on April 1, after a difficult year for sales.
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Courtesy of Wendy's
Wendy’s hits the gas on drive-thru AI, digital menu boards and kiosks
Early results revealed this technology has simplified ordering and helped free up employees to enhance the customer experience.
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Permission granted by Dutch Bros
Dutch Bros’ mobile ordering is booming
The new digital channel already accounts for 8% of sales just a year after initial testing, executives said, and is available at 96% of stores.
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Thai Phi Le/Restaurant Dive
Wendy’s will expand chicken, beverages and value in 2025
The burger chain will also enhance its loyalty platform with limited-time offers only available through the app.
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Courtesy of Brinker International
Chili’s rides with NASCAR, Lifetime to push margaritas with music, TV
Two very different campaigns look to broaden the company’s consumer base in an effort to continue its wave of success.
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Courtesy of Burger King
Burger King accelerates remodels, refranchising
The QSR giant will start selling off the restaurants it acquired in its $1 billion Carrols deal two years ahead of schedule.
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Courtesy of Golden Corral
Inside Golden Corral’s complete tech overhaul
CIO Dawn Gillis said the buffet chain’s new tech infrastructure, built by Qu, will help it double off-premise sales this year.
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Permission granted by California Pizza Kitchen
From vending machines to airports: How CPK is reaching more diners
California Pizza Kitchen is also investing in a virtual brand partnership and expansion of consumer packaged goods to reach more diners.
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Courtesy of Popeyes
Popeyes will remodel stores and beef up ad spending
Restaurant Brands International will add equipment, ranging from a cloud-based point-of-sales system to an automated batter-maker, at the chicken chain’s U.S. stores.
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Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
Denny’s to increase store closures
The chain expects to shutter 70 to 90 restaurants in 2025 due to low volumes and lease expirations, compared to 88 store closures last year.
Updated Feb. 18, 2025 -
Retrieved from EG America.
EG America names new head of branded QSR operations
The retailer has appointed a leader for its department that recently launched three fresh restaurant concepts.
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Permission granted by Tropical Smoothie Cafe
Tropical Smoothie Cafe hires Baskin-Robbins vet as COO
Jonathan Biggs joins the company during a rapid growth period. The chain also promoted Chris Sasser to CFO and Karen Wickliffe to general counsel.
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Brandon Bell via Getty Images
McDonald’s looks to loyalty to recapture traffic after disappointing quarter
The chain aims to reach its goal of 250 million 90-day active MyMcDonald’s Rewards users and $45 billion in annual systemwide sales by 2027.
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Mario Tama via Getty Images
NRA: 95% of restaurant operators say diners are more value-conscious
Forty-seven percent of operators are planning to offer discounts or value promotions this year, per National Restaurant Association research.
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Courtesy of McDonald's
McDonald’s will bring back snackwraps, chicken strips to boost sales
The Golden Arches will emphasize menu innovation in the chicken category this year to recover traffic momentum that was stalled by its E. coli outbreak.
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Justin Sullivan / Staff via Getty Images
Yum Brands to scale loyalty, personalization in 2025
Taco Bell’s parent company is leveraging loyalty programs and AI-driven personalization in pursuit of higher digital sales.
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JazzIRT via Getty Images
The restaurant labor market in 6 key statistics
Turnover generally fell in 2024, while unemployment and total jobs increased slightly, indicating a return to pre-pandemic labor market dynamics.
Updated Feb. 10, 2025 -
Michael M. Santiago via Getty Images
One-third of independent restaurants expect sales declines from tariffs
Comparatively, 40% of small business owners expect no sales impact from U.S. tariffs on China and potential tariffs on Mexico and Canada, according to an Alignable survey.
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Courtesy of Panera
Panera Bread hires Dunkin’ vet as CIO
Santhosh Kumar, who spent almost two decades in IT roles at Dunkin’, will develop and deploy tech across the chain’s 2,200-plus cafes.
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Michael M. Santiago via Getty Images
Chipotle builds 2025 around ‘total guest experience,’ CEO says
The company will continue to roll out kitchen equipment and mobile order-focused Chipotlanes to keep order throughput high.
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benedek via Getty Images
NRA: Traditional restaurant sales will surpass $1.1 trillion in 2025
The entire foodservice industry will reach $1.5 trillion in annual sales despite labor and food cost challenges thanks to pent-up diner demand, the National Restaurant Association predicts.
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Courtesy of Taco Bell
Yum Brands launches integrated tech platform
Thousands of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC restaurants already use Byte by Yum, which includes kitchen management and point-of-sale tools.
