6 Lessons for Executives from the Netflix Debacle
Is the company at risk of becoming a business school case study of what not to do?No Leak of Key Info in Mitsubishi Cyber Attack
The company, which makes warships, submarines and other defense-related equipment, said Sunday that 45 Japan-based servers and 38 computer terminals were infected with viruses during a cyber attack in mid-August.
Could ‘Manufacturing’s Secret Shift’ Bring Jobs Back to America?
A survey finds that manufacturers are moving closer to their customers, which could bode well for the United States.Franchisee buys 37 Jack in the Box units
In a move that pushes Jack in the Box Inc. closer to its goal of becoming up to 80-percent franchised, J&D Restaurant Group Inc. acquired 37 of the chain’s corporate locations in Texas.
The deal, which was funded in part by $13.2 million from GE Capital Franchise Finance, closed in June. The units were among a total of 112 corporate locations Jack in the Box refranchised during the third quarter, which ended with the chain about 67-percent franchised.
The company also revised its full-year guidance to reflect the expectation that between 250 and 300 units will be sold to franchisees by year’s end.
J&D Restaurant Group, based in Dallas, is a new Jack in the Box franchisee. The company operates 11 restaurants under the Church’s Chicken, Arby’s and Dickey’s Barbecue brands.
The 37 Jack in the Box locations acquired included units in Waco and Tyler, Texas, said Brian Luscomb, a spokesman for the San Diego-based franchisor.
Zafar “Jeff” Moosa, J&D Restaurant Group president, said he is looking at markets in Texas, Oklahoma and other states where the franchisee may expand the brand or pick up other refranchised locations.
“We’re very pleased with the Jack in the Box brand and the company,” he said. “And with GE’s support, we were able to close the deal within 30 days.”
Contact Lisa Jennings at lisa.jennings@penton.com.
Follow her on Twitter: @livetodineout
CKE narrows loss in 2Q
Higher commodity prices for beef, cooking oil and dairy, and a recall of ground turkey put a strain on Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, parent company CKE Restaurants Inc. reported Wednesday.
In a conference call reporting narrowed losses for CKE Restaurants during the second quarter, chief executive Andy Puzder said sales of the new turkey burgers at Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s were surpassing expectations.
However, sales slowed in the current third quarter after Springdale, Ark.-based Cargill Meat Solutions Corp. recalled millions of pounds of ground turkey in August and September that may have been contaminated with a drug-resistant strain of Salmonella.
The turkey used by Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s was not part of the recall, but publicity about the event impacted sales of the new menu items.
“That will fade,” Puzder predicted, “and we’ll promote it again once the publicity around Cargill goes away.”
This week, Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. debuted their first new beef burger limited-time offer in almost a year: a Steakhouse Burger, featuring A1 Steak Sauce, fried onion strings and blue cheese.
Brisk sales of the turkey burgers earlier in the year and other poultry products, such as hand-breaded chicken tenders, helped offset rising commodity costs for CKE. Chicken costs have not been as challenging as beef, the company said.
Food and packaging costs for the second quarter rose by 90 basis points, primarily because of higher costs for beef, cooking oil, dairy, flour and pork, Puzder said.
Such higher costs were offset somewhat by lower labor costs and unspecified menu price increases over the past two quarters.
Raising prices is “something we need to continually do,” Puzder said. “But it’s hard to keep up, especially with the economy in the state it’s in.”
CKE reported a loss of $2.2 million for the quarter ended Aug. 15, compared with a loss of $27.3 million for the same quarter last year.
Blended same-store sales for company-operated units climbed 2.2 percent for the quarter, with Carl’s Jr. up 2 percent and Hardee’s showing a 2.5-percent increase.
The company reported revenues of $299.7 million, down 4.5 percent from a year ago, in part because of the sale of Carl’s Jr.’s distribution business in July last year.
Excluding revenue from the distribution center last year, revenues would have been up by $10.8 million, or 3.7 percent, the company said.
Five weeks into the third quarter, the company said sales so far were flat to slightly positive.
At the end of the second quarter, the company operated, franchised or licensed 1,278 Carl’s Jr. and 1,914 Hardee’s locations.
Formerly a publicly traded stock, CKE was acquired about a year ago by an affiliate of Apollo Management VII LP.
Contact Lisa Jennings at lisa.jennings@penton.com.
Follow her on Twitter: @livetodineout
Marler: Industry smarter about food safety
Bill Marler rose to prominence representing victims of the E. coli 0157:H7 outbreak related to undercooked hamburgers sold by Jack in the Box in 1993.
But his job has gotten harder over the years as the restaurant industry has gotten smarter, the attorney told a group of food-safety professionals gathered in Denver Tuesday for the recent Food Safety Symposium.
The symposium was produced by Nation’s Restaurant News and sponsored by Ecolab.
Incidents of E. coli outbreaks related to beef have declined, Marler told attendees, and more operators now include indemnity clauses in their contracts with suppliers, a testament to the lessons learned from outbreaks over the years.
“I made money off the 0157:H7 cases, but there are fewer cases linked to beef,” said Marler, a partner in the Seattle-based law firm of Marler Clark. “But for the leafy green and cantaloupe industries, I wouldn’t have anything to do.”
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7 steps to minimize food safety liability
At this week's Food Safety Symposium in Denver, well known attorney Bill Marler outlined the best ways foodservice firms can reduce liability when it come to issues surrounding food safety, from arming employees with proper information, to working with vendors and suppliers throughout the supply chain.
The invitation-only event is produced by Nation's Restaurant News and sponsored by Ecolab.
Marler, who rose to prominence representing victims of the E. coli 0157:H7 outbreak related to undercooked hamburgers sold by Jack in the Box in 1993, said the restaurant industry has indeed gotten smarter about food safety. Incidents of E. coli outbreaks related to beef have declined, he told attendees, and more restaurant operators now include indemnity clauses in their contracts with suppliers, a testament to the lessons learned from outbreaks over the years.
“I made money off the 0157:H7 cases, but there are fewer cases linked to beef,” said Marler, a partner in the Seattle-based law firm of Marler Clark. “But for the leafy green and cantaloupe industries, I wouldn’t have anything to do.”
In his speech during the symposium, he outlined ways for restaurant operators to minimize food safety liability and litigation in their businesses.
Among the most important steps:
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Questions are most effective way to engage Facebook fans
Restaurants seeking engagement with their Facebook fans are most likely to achieve their goals by asking customers to offer their opinions, according to new research from Expion.
The consulting and social-media software provider perused all the Facebook posts made over the summer by the 50 most well-liked restaurant brands to determine which messages elicited the most comments from Facebook users. By a vast majority, open-ended posts asking people to answer questions or give feedback provoked more responses than posts in which a brand merely touts a new menu item or promotion, Expion found.
The approach a restaurant takes on Facebook should depend on where that brand is in its social-media lifecycle, Mike Heffring, chief strategy officer for Raleigh, N.C.-based Expion, said.
While promotional posts usually don’t get the level of response seen for more engagement-oriented messages, he said, they typically are the tools for building a restaurant’s fan base. But he suggested asking for feedback — along the lines of “What’s your favorite thing about this brand?” — as that roster of fans grows.
“The first thing for me would probably be to do something promotional, because you know what works with that already,” Heffring said. “Then I’d get people to talk more about what they like about your brand, be it the menu or the atmosphere or whatever.”
EARLIER:
Questions are most effective way to engage Facebook fans
Restaurants seeking engagement with their Facebook fans are most likely to achieve their goals by asking customers to offer their opinions, according to new research from Expion.
The consulting and social-media software provider perused all the Facebook posts made over the summer by the 50 most well-liked restaurant brands to determine which messages elicited the most comments from Facebook users. By a vast majority, open-ended posts asking people to answer questions or give feedback provoked more responses than posts in which a brand merely touts a new menu item or promotion, Expion found.
The approach a restaurant takes on Facebook should depend on where that brand is in its social-media lifecycle, Mike Heffring, chief strategy officer for Raleigh, N.C.-based Expion, said.
While promotional posts usually don’t get the level of response seen for more engagement-oriented messages, he said, they typically are the tools for building a restaurant’s fan base. But he suggested asking for feedback — along the lines of “What’s your favorite thing about this brand?” — as that roster of fans grows.
“The first thing for me would probably be to do something promotional, because you know what works with that already,” Heffring said. “Then I’d get people to talk more about what they like about your brand, be it the menu or the atmosphere or whatever.”
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Franchisee to expand Uno fast-casual concept
Uno Restaurant Holdings has signed a franchise deal to open 30 fast-casual Uno Du