Plus: Taco Bell Hates Kids; Stephanie Izard Is A Photobomber
1. First the bones go, then the Colonel.
“KFC has Panera envy,” USA Today reports.
“The fried chicken kingpin, eager to tap into a younger, more upscale customer, is about to test a Millennial-friendly store next month – serving the likes of fresh salads and flatbread sandwiches – near its headquarters in Louisville that it has dubbed ‘KFC eleven.’
“The name is a reference to the 11 herbs and spices that Sanders used in the famous Original Recipe chicken.
“Don’t look for Col. Sanders’ well-known goateed mug at the new location. This single KFC eleven, after all, will be more of a laboratory for what’s next – not what was.”
Yet another company insisting on busting its brand instead of nurturing it. Let’s just say we’re not convinced a KFC Caribbean rice bowl is going to be a hit.
*
Memo to KFC: You can make the best damn Kentucky Fried Chicken in the land – which isn’t the same as the chicken you’re making now – without an old white coot as your mascot. So you’re halfway there. But don’t forget the chicken.
2. Oreo, Meet Dorito.
3. Taco Bell To Kids: Drop Dead.
“Taco Bell said Monday that it’s eliminating kids’ meals – often a target of nutrition activists – from its menu,” Ad Age reports.
“Taco Bell is touting itself as the first national fast-food chain to do so, noting that the move will be completed by January.
“The chain said it’s ditching kids’ meals because they aren’t relevant to its core customer – millennials, generally in their late teens and early-to-mid ’20s. ‘As we continue our journey of being a better, more relevant Taco Bell, kid’s meals and toys simply no longer make sense for us to put resources behind,” said Greg Creed, CEO of Taco Bell, in a statement.”
In other words, kids just aren’t as profitable as drunk twentysomethings.
4. Worth It To Bill Fold.
“People eat differently on the South Side,” Peter Engler writes for LTHforum. “If you don’t believe that, try to find a Mother in Law, Big Baby, or Freddy north of Madison Street.
“Another sandwich, also likely unfamiliar to most Northsiders, is currently spreading around the South Side and beyond.
“Ten or fifteen years ago I found a menu from a South Side sub shop slipped into my front gate. It listed all the familiar local treats: subs stuffed with beef (either ‘roast’ or ‘corn’); gyros (usually pronounced GUY-ro); and super tacos (ground beef, lettuce, and tomatoes, all folded into a pita). But there was also a sandwich I’d never heard of then: the Jim Shoe.”
Click through to read the rest.
5. CSI: Food Inc.
“The Institute of Food Technologists has established the Global Food Traceability Center designed to protect and improve the global food supply,” Meat & Poultry reports.
“Noting there is currently no single entity that brings together key stakeholders in the farm-to-table food system to collaborate on providing timely product tracing solutions, the IFT said the traceability center will serve as an unbiased source of information on the topic.”
Sounds good.
“The formation of the center is the result of three traceability research summits the IFT held in 2011. The summits were a part of the Traceability Improvement Initiative (TII) launched by the IFT with seed funding support from BASF Chemical Co., Underwriters Laboratories, and the National Fisheries Institute.
“Founding sponsors for the Global Food Traceability Center include Cargill, the Food Marketing Institute, GS1 US, International Association for Food Protection, Intertek Group, Lyngsoe Systems, Mars Inc., National Fisheries Institute, Produce Marketing Association, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and the Univ. of Guelph.”
Oh.
6. Denied At Drive-Thru, Woman Brings Horse Inside McDonald’s.
Didn’t I see that on Family Guy?
*
Speaking of which, “McStroke” is one of the all-time classic episodes – even though Wikipedia says it received “mixed to negative reviews.”
Horse-hockey. It might even be the all-time best episode . . . you’ve got Peter and mustache culture; Stewie as Zac Sawyer, who wears long-sleeve shirts under short-sleeve shirts under long-sleeve shirts; Ricardo Montalban as a cow; “Hurricane” by Dylan; the Monopoly Man . . . I mean, it’s just jam-packed.
7. Stephanie Izard Photobombs Arizona Reviewer.
8. Wendy’s Also Has Panera Envy.
“Wendy’s reported a quarterly net income that came in above Wall Street expectations and said it’s selling 425 of its restaurants to franchisees, a move that’s expected to help boost its profit margins,” AP reports.
“CEO Emil Brolick said in a statement that the sale of the restaurants will also help expand adoption of the company’s new restaurant designs. That’s because Wendy’s plans to sell the restaurants to ‘well-capitalized’ franchisees willing to pay for the remodeling.
“The sleeker new look is part of Wendy’s push to try to distance itself from the greasy, cheap image of traditional fast-food chains. By cleaning up its stores and offering more premium burgers and sandwiches, Wendy’s is hoping to recast itself more in the style of Panera Bread or Chipotle, which tend to charge higher prices.”
Even fast food is gentrifying.
9. “When Zishu ‘Shawn’ Li left his native Congqing, China, in 2000, he came directly to Chicago,” the Daily Herald reports.
“His journey didn’t stop there as the young entrepreneur made a name for himself in the suburban restaurant industry that includes his latest business, 8000 Miles, which serves authentic Chinese and Japanese food in downtown Roselle.
“The restaurant name came from the length of his journey to the suburbs, he said.”
*
Roselle slogan: Where Tradition Meets Tomorrow.
*
Also, they’ve had a Taste of Roselle going on 32 years.
10. “Zachary’s Chicago Pizza turns 30 this week – Thursday, July 25, marks exactly three decades since the first Zachary’s opened in 1983 at the corner of College and Oak Grove avenues in Oakland,” Patch reports.
“The restaurant was founded by Zach Zachowski and Barbara Gabel, Wisconsin natives with a fondness for Chicago-style pizza who moved to the Bay Area and opened the Oakland pizzeria in a former lampshade store.”
–
Comments welcome.
Posted on July 23, 2013