The Food Scout

One of the great things I love about being a freelance columnist for QSR Magazine is that it gives me an excuse to talk to a lot of very interesting and experienced marketers at America's leading quickservice chains. The downside is that column space and topic matter rarely give me room for more than a couple of quick soundbites. So I'm planning to start sharing all that other great interview information that doesn't make the cut, but can be very insightful and revealing about what's going on in the marketing minds at big burger chains. For example, last week I spoke with Brad Haley, EVP of marketing for Hardee's and Carl's Jr. restaurants. Here are some of the more interesting Q&A part ...

Admittedly, the above claim is completely subjective and not scientifically based. But I have been traveling extensively across the U.S. for the past 6 months, checking into dozens of hotels, checking out at hundreds of grocery stores and restaurants, and from what I can see, the recession has improved customer service across the board (well, except maybe in Charleston, S.C.). Not surprisingly, I have a lot of theories about this, and they aren't necessarily politically correct. Basically, I think that when the economy was humming and everyone was dreaming of being in a better job (and believed they could find one at the drop of a hat), there wasn't a lot ...

Perhaps you've noticed I haven't blogged in more than a month. That's because I've been Tweeting instead. I can't say I necessarily like the whole Tweeting phenomenon that has people stopping their own lives to track what Ashton Kutcher is doing, but Twitter has done a couple of interesting things for me. One development is that I now "tweet" my ideas more frequently than I was blogging them, because the barriers to entry are much lower with tweeting than with blogging. I can just tap the Twittelator app on my iPhone and send off my trend observation without having to craft an article or upload a photo. Done. Plus, since these ...

Orlando and Tampa are shaping up to be the new playground for innovative food retailing. If you live in the Southeast, you know Publix supermarkets. And if you live in north Florida, you know that Publix is leveraging several sub-brands into new retail units and merchandising opportunities. Its Aprons brand, originally a cooking school, is now a meal-assembly concept, cooking demo kiosk, and a catering business. Greenwise is a brand Publix is using on its new tony Whole Foods-style units, BUT it's also a brand merchandised in most of its stores around natural foods including meats, cereals, and juices. And Sabor ...

You may have heard in recent news that Spain is now producing "ethical" fois gras to help sidestep some of the controversy that caused fois gras to be banned in Chicago restaurants a couple of years ago. Times have obviously changed, as this is one of the many concerns that has fallen to the very bottom of the priority list, now that consumers and restaurants alike have gone on an "eating out diet." Foodservice was growing in recent years on the assumption that eating out had become a way of life--not just a special occasion--for consumers living in a time-crunched, convenience-driven world. But as gas prices rose and the stock market fell, ...