The first Wendy’s outlet in Georgia to open under a year-old agreement made its debut in the country’s capital last month. The U.S. ambassador to Georgia, Richard Norland, was in a crowd of hundreds of Georgians who flocked to the Sept. 12 grand opening in Tbilisi. Wendy’s Georgia franchisee, The Wissol Group, plans to open…

It’s not only the chain’s flagship store, but KFC says its new outlet in Ukraine also is the world’s largest KFC drive-through restaurant. The 5,575-sq.-ft. store, at the National Railway Station in Kiev, features a double drive-through capable of serving 200 cars per hour, as well as dining-room seating for 280 customers and a 400-seat…

Next year is an off year for The NAFEM Show. As always in non-show years, the North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers will instead host its Annual Meeting & Management Workshop. Registration opened last month for the Feb. 7-10, 2014, meeting at the JW Marriott New Orleans.

Middleby Marshall is celebrating a landmark year in the foodservice E&S business: 125 years as an oven manufacturer. Among the honors the company has received on its anniversary is an honorary street sign, “Middleby Way,” displayed on Toastmaster Drive by its headquarters in Elgin, Ill. It is only the third such honorary street sign in…

Fall isn’t just time for college applications, it’s time for foodservice equipment manufacturers to apply for the

A group of private-equity investors, including firms from Taiwan and South Korea, has acquired Los Angeles-based The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. Terms were not disclosed for the transaction, which was completed Sept. 12. The capital investment comes from global buyout firm Advent International, represented by Will Kussell, previously president of Dunkin’ Donuts Worldwide. He’ll…

The California-style burger chain that isn’t based in California continues its global expansion. Shanghai-based CaliBurger has signed a franchise deal with shopping mall operator Dashang Group to open 50 CaliBurger and Cali Express units in China over the next three years. The first site will be a flagship CaliBurger at Dashang’s headquarters in Dalain. The…

The Winston-Salem, N.C., chain has partnered with LLC Doughnuts Café to bring its baked goods to Moscow. The Russian operator opened the first of 40 planned Krispy Kreme stores last month in the heavily trafficked area behind Red Square. Krispy Kreme has 790 locations in 22 countries, including recent openings in Edinburgh and Bangalore; a…

Some new titles for four employees at Champion Industries: Anthony Patella has assumed the post of regional sales manager-South and Nathan Marshall now has the title of product manager. Patella previously held the position of regional sales manager for Moyer Diebel. He is based at Champion/Bi-Line headquarters in Winston-Salem, N.C. Marshall, who had played a…