News on QSR, Restaurant and Food Service Trends from Northern America

Arby’s, the 3,700-unit chain that is under strategic review by parent company Wendy’s/Arby’s Group Inc., may fetch a price tag of more than $300 million, according to a few securities analysts who cover the company.

um! Brands Inc. said Tuesday it planned to sell Long John Silver’s and A&W All-American Food in order to focus on its three larger quick-service brands.

For casual-dining concepts, which account for more than one third of total U.S. restaurant industry sales, the past two years have seen traditional and upscale casual restaurants battling soft same-store sales, as consumers traded down to lower priced fast-casual competitors and prepared more meals at home.

Tijdens de vorige week gehouden Potato Expo - het grootste aardappel congres in the Verenigde Staten - werd een nieuw initiatief gepresenteerd om het imago van aardappelen en friet te verbeteren.

National Restaurant Association News

Potential end users who learn about U.S. dehydrated potatoes at trade shows and seminars and who decide to incorporate dehy into a product don’t have to go it alone.

California restaurants must end trans fat use by Jan. 1.

The National Restaurant Association’s “What’s Hot” survey of more than 1,500 professional chefs—members of the American Culinary Federation (ACF)—reveals that local and hyper-local sourcing, healthy children’s meals, sustainable seafood, and gluten-free cuisine will be among the hottest trends on restaurant menus in 2011.

Canada's foodservice industry is growing in terms of both unit counts and menu offerings. After a 1.2 percent decline in 2009, estimates indicate that Canadian foodservice has achieved a higher growth rate in 2010 than its U.S. counterpart.

Technomic, the leading North American foodservice research and consulting firm, examines the future for Canadian restaurants

A mother of two says that McDonald’s uses toys as bait to induce her kids to clamor to go to McDonald’s and to develop a preference for nutritionally poor Happy Meals. With the help of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, today the mom, Monet Parham, is filing a class action lawsuit aimed at stopping McDonald’s use of toys to market directly to young children.

As law makers move in various ways to legislate healthier eating in the U.S., it appears that Americans are beating them to the punch.

As the US begins to emerge from recession, restaurants are seeing lapsed customers return.

On independent restaurant menus, potatoes of all kinds account for 44% of all carbs, according to MenuMine.

Wendy's announces the launch of its new natural-cut fries with sea salt in the United States (nationwide), marking the first complete redesign of the company's classic fries in its 41-year history.

Canada's restaurant and food service industry plays a key role in Canada's economy.