Foodservice chains, which helped drive the recovery from the global financial crisis, saw flat or negative traffic counts in the first quarter 2015 in most of the 11 major markets tracked by the NPD Group. On the positive side, the consumer research firm, whose foodservice practice is based in suburban Chicago, said lunch visits improved…

After falling for six consecutive months, wholesale food prices rose for the second month in June, according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index. Food at the final demand stage rose 0.6% after a 0.8% gain in May. Foods and feedstuffs also rose at the intermediate demand stage,…

April’s opening of a flagship store for Azkadenya in Dubai marks the first step in an aggressive regional expansion drive by Jordan’s Eat Restaurant Group. The new Azkadenya outlet, located in a shopping mall in the city’s high-end Jumeirah district, is part of Eat’s plan to open 25 new regional outlets of the Arabic casual-dining…

Nando’s Peri-Peri, the South African-Portuguese restaurant chain, has hatched its first major expansion since moving to the U.S. seven years ago. Nando’s has opened two of three units planned for Chicago. The chain, which operates spicy, flame-grilled chicken restaurants in 23 countries, first moved to the U.S. in 2008. It set up shop in Washington,…

Five years after Myanmar’s military government opened the country to the world, at least two QSR chains have set up business there. In April 2013, South Korean burger chain Lotteria opened in Yangon, the country’s most commercially important city, and announced plans to open 24 more Burmese sites by 2016. Now KFC has become the…

Is the U.S. primed for fast-casual sushi? London-based Yo! Sushi thinks so and is counting on filling the need for fast-casual sushi that other chains have missed. The 87-unit chain is in the early stages of expanding its footprint in the U.S. It’s opened two successfully received locations in New Jersey and Florida, has another…

After years of sluggish growth, the U.S. foodservice market has finally broken out of the doldrums. Strong jobs growth and the dramatic drop in energy prices in the second half of 2014 has helped push consumer confidence to post-recession levels. One benefit has been strong growth in sales and traffic in the U.S. foodservice market.…

We’ve known for a long time that the foodservice market in the Europe is significantly smaller than in the United States. New research from Peter Backman, principal at Horizons, the London-based research firm, details just how much smaller. Backman toted up the populations and foodservice markets of the U.S. and the five largest sub-markets of…

With crude-oil prices continuing to weaken, Thailand’s largest energy firm is diversifying and diving into the American QSR business. PTT Plc. has signed a franchise deal with U.S.-based Texas Chicken. PTT plans to invest 1.5 billion baht (US$44.2 million) to open at least 70 Texas Chicken branches over the next five years. The first restaurant…

In May, in one of the largest-ever acquisitions in the UAE of a home-grown foodservice brand, Dubai-based Marka Holding bought restaurant chain Reem Al Bawadi for approximately AED315 million (US$86 million). Marka, which focuses on the retail and hospitality sector in the UAE, plans an ambitious expansion program across the Gulf Cooperation Council for the…