Starbucks is adding an extra splash of espresso to its international expansion plans. The chain, which just hit the 2,000-unit milestone in China, has announced plans to operate 3,400 stores there by 2019. Since debuting in China 17 years ago, the country has become the Seattle chain’s second largest and fastest-growing international market. According to…

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts wants to be more than just the baked goods. A new test outlet near its Winston-Salem, N.C., headquarters sports a revamped layout that puts coffee front and center with barista service and extra seating to encourage customers to buy a cup or two and stay a while. The chain also plans to…

Twelve foodservice notables were honored last week by their peers at MAFSI’s Business Development Conference in Phoenix. The Atlanta-based rep association gave out its biennial awards in six categories to individuals and companies who have demonstrated leadership and exemplary performance within the industry and to MAFSI. Nine MAFSI members, one MAFSI chapter, and two non-members…

Dirty dishes and the subject of weight charges for the machines that clean them never seem to go away. Our friend, Tim Walsh, vice president at ReTrans Freight, tipped us off that dishwashers are back on the docket for class change consideration at next week’s Commodity Classification Standards Board. The public meeting will consider proposals…

After years of reporting the chain’s soaring sales, the headlines about

Champion Industries has appointed Erik Nommsen as president of the Champion Group, which includes the Champion, Moyer Diebel and Bi-Line brands. Nommsen, whose appointment was announced January 14, will formally join the Winston-Salem, N.C., warewasher manufacturer on January 18. The appointment marks Nommsen’s second tenure as president of the Champion Group. He previously served in…

Given continuing favorable macroeconomic trends and near-record operator capital-spending activity in the latter part of 2015, Foodservice Equipment Reports has held to its 2016 forecast for current-dollar growth of the foodservice equipment and supplies market in the U.S. and Canada at 4.6%. Factoring out anticipated price increases by manufacturers, the magazine predicts real growth of…

Seven of the 11 foodservice markets tracked by the NPD Group’s CREST consumer research experienced traffic gains in the second quarter 2015 vs. the same quarter year prior, the latest quarter for which NPD has publicly released data for the 11 major foodservice markets it tracks worldwide. “Optimism, though cautious, abounds throughout the global foodservice…

In its 2016 outlook for the foodservice market in the United Kingdom, Horizons FS Ltd., the London-based foodservice research firm, posits that rapid unit growth in the country during the past decade and a half has created overcapacity that will hold down same-store sales for the foreseeable future. “Relentless growth amongst group operators has driven…

A favorable macroeconomic environment in the U.S. is driving operator-sales growth rates to levels not seen since 2007, according to the 2016 foodservice industry forecast revision released by Technomic Inc. on Jan. 12, just as we uploaded this newsletter. The Chicago-based foodservice research firm predicts total 2016 industry real sales will grow 2.4%, after factoring…