Quiznos has announced an aggressive expansion into Mexico. The toasted sandwich chain will compete with Subway, which already has about 600 stores there.On Jan. 28, the Denver-based chain said it had signed a master franchise agreement with Mexico City-based Quizmex SA DE CV, which plans to open and subfranchise about 150 restaurants over the next…

Michael Conte has been promoted to the presidency of Franklin Machine Products. Through his 24 years with Lumberton, N.J.-based FMP, Conte has served as GM, vice president and most recently, executive v.p./COO. He succeeds Joe Grato, FMP’s president for 13 years. Grato takes on the title of president emeritus and chairmanship of the FMP business…

The SFM Hennessey Travelers Program was unexpectedly cancelled just days before newly named SFM Traveler Tony Kaszuba was set to depart. The U.S. Air Force has cancelled all NRA Hennessy Traveler Evaluations due to “significant budget reductions and the looming sequestration.”  The 57-year-old program could return, but meanwhile SFM will remain steadfast in efforts to…

Without much fanfare,

The biggest E&S show of the year opens next week. We hope to see a lot of you at NAFEM ’13, Feb. 7-9 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. If we don’t see you in aisles or at your booth, please stop by FER Booth #1663. And we especially hope to see…

Two major doughnut and coffee chains have spread out to new markets. Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corp. opened its first franchise location in India on Jan. 19. The new store is in Bangalore, India’s third largest city, and the center of the country’s high-tech sector. The Bangalore unit marks the first step in the Winston-Salem, N.C.,…

Mexican restaurant franchise operator Alsea SAB has acquired exclusive rights to develop

UL has acquired Everclean Services, a food-safety auditor based in Agoura Hills, Calif. Everclean Services assesses and audits food safety, supplier qualifications, brand consistency and price integrity for restaurants, grocery and retail chains. It performs more than 40,000 audits on more than 10,000 facilities in North America, including many leading multiunit chains. The acquisition broadens…

A private-equity firm that already holds a majority stake in Peet’s Coffee & Tea has acquired Caribou Coffee Co., the nation’s second-largest company-owned coffeehouse chain. The Joh. A. Benckiser Group (JAB) announced a definitive merger agreement under which an affiliate of JAB will acquire Caribou for approximately $340 million. Caribou will remain based in Minneapolis…