The great American doughnut is entering a new market: Iraq. Nearly 100 Dixie Cream Donut Co. restaurants will open in Iraq, U.A.E., Jordan, Qatar and Syria under an agreement between the chain’s parent, Beautiful Brands Int’l., and Emirates Associated Business Group. Dixie Cream will join Subway as one of the few American foodservice chains with…

Cinnabon Inc., one of Focus Brands’ five concepts, has named Kat Cole as president just three months after she joined the Atlanta-based chain as COO. She takes over from Gary Bales, who will retain his post as president of Carvel. Cole previously served as v.p.-training and development for Hooters of America. She is on the…

Corner Bakery Cafe is getting bigger in Texas. The Dallas company plans to double its current store total there to 140 locations, and open its first restaurant in the booming Austin market. The fast-casual restaurant has already signed multiunit franchise deals with four companies covering the El Paso, East Texas, Houston and San Antonio markets,…

A new uniform, statewide food-safety inspection law goes into effect Jan. 22 in Pennsylvania. Act 106 clarifies and strengthens oversight of food-safety inspections for all restaurants and retail food stores. Under the old law, each of the state’s 167 local jurisdictions performed its own safety inspections, using its own procedures and reporting mechanisms, of an…

The flood of newly elected officials to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives makes it a fresh start for many issues and bills under debate, and enhances the importance of the 2011 National Restaurant Association Public Affairs Conference, April 13-14 in Washington, D.C. The restaurant industry’s largest and most important grassroots event provides foodservice professionals…

Even before Chicago decides whether to legalize mobile food trucks with cooking on board, downtown businesses are struggling with guerilla marketers and food trucks that set up shop in no-parking zones and sell pre-packaged goods. The president of the Greater North Michigan Avenue Association told the Chicago Sun-Times that the Magnificent Mile has been overrun…

Foodservice employees have been left holding the laundry bag in New York. In an order issued by New York State’s Wage Board concerning the minimum wage and how large a role tips should play in paying staff, the board relieved operators from paying for laundering uniforms if they are wash-and-wear style. But laundry was just…

The National Restaurant Association will release its annual forecast of the restaurant industry Jan. 24. Further details were not available as we went to press. For further information, visit the association’s website at

Forecasts for the U.S. economy improved substantially in early January, according to the latest consensus forecasts from Blue Chip Economic Indicators. The forecast for growth of real gross domestic product in 2011 rose an unusual half point during the past month, jumping to 3.1% on an annualized basis. If it really happens, it will be…

The U.S. was not alone in continuing to see traffic declines in the third quarter last year, reports The NPD Group. While the U.S. saw a slight traffic decline of 0.7%, other major economies continued to struggle, especially in Europe. Traffic fell another 2.4% in the United Kingdom and 2.6% in Spain. Both markets have,…