More than 2,000 foodservice professionals met in Dallas this week to attend the Women’s Foodservice Forum Annual Leadership Development conference, which celebrates trailblazing efforts in gender equality and works to develop a new generation of female executives.

Carin Stutz, the outgoing WFF chair, and president and chief executive at fast-casual restaurant company Cosi Inc., opened the conference Sunday as the organization awarded members and supporters for their work both in foodservice and with the WFF.

On Monday, new WFF chair Lorna Donatone, chief operating officer and education market president at Sodexo, introduced keynote speaker David Novak, CEO at Yum! Brands Inc., and set the tone for the year ahead.

“WFF is poised and ready to help this amazing [foodservice] industry achieve dramatic results,” Donatone said. “This will be a banner year to drive people and organizations to aspire higher and achieve gender parity at the top. I am honored and ready to contribute to this goal as chair of WFF.”

The organization, founded more than 20 years ago, works to empower women, develop leadership talent and achieve gender parity throughout foodservice, both in the boardroom and through the ranks.

During his keynote presentation, Novak said leaders are at their best when they allow others to feel comfortable enough to perform well.

“Leaders, especially female leaders, are best when they are true to who they are,” he said, “when they are comfortable in their own skin and make others feel comfortable.”

He said that regardless of gender, leaders need to make certain they can perform the job — and perform it well — above all else.

Other conference highlights included sessions on social media as a tool for personal branding, crisis management and the impact of private equity on foodservice.

“As our Annual Leadership Development Conference concludes, 2,300 foodservice professionals are returning to their jobs with the inspiration, knowledge and strategic connections to achieve more,” said Fritzi Woods, Women’s Foodservice Forum president and CEO. “It couldn’t have been possible without so many dedicated partners and organizations who share our commitment to making the foodservice industry one of choice.”

The WFF annual awards included:

SOAR Award to General Mills.
The sixth annual Jackie B. Trujillo Outstanding SOAR Award, which is sponsored by Yum! Brands, honors a foodservice company highly dedicated to attracting, educating and promoting women to the highest positions in the organization. The WFF honored General Mills for its strong development path for women, which leverages dozens of network and employee resource groups and provides coaching at all levels to ensure women can receive high-quality mentoring throughout their careers.

WFF Trailblazer Award to Pat Harris, vice president and global chief diversity officer, McDonald’s Corp.
The Trailblazer Award is given to an individual who shows dedication to improving the foodservice industry by supporting gender diversity. Harris is responsible for the development and implementation of diversity strategies throughout McDonald’s. Under her leadership, the WFF said, McDonald’s has been widely recognized for its commitment to inclusion and diversity.

WFF Leadership Award to Cheryl A. Bachelder, president, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen and CEO, AFC Enterprises Inc.
The Leadership Award is given each year to a woman executive in the foodservice industry who shows exceptional leadership qualities within her company and the industry at large. The WFF said Bachelder creates a work environment in which people can do their best. She believes in a passionate, purposeful approach to work where the focus is on coaching and developing people to be leaders with competence and character.

WFF Volunteer of the Year Award to Karen Williams, executive director, strategy implementation, Applebee’s Services, a division of DineEquity Inc.
The Volunteer of the Year is presented to a WFF volunteer who is highly active in the organization and shows effort above and beyond expectations. The WFF cited Williams’ long history of supporting local and national charitable organizations. She currently serves on the Finance Committee of the Susan G. Komen Foundation national board and is a past member of the board of directors for The Family Place and Head Start of Greater Dallas. She is an active member of the WFF, where she is proud to have contributed to the organization’s strategic and leadership development agendas.

Contact Sarah Lockyer at sarah.lockyer@penton.com.
Follow her on Twitter: @slockyerNRN

Jamba Juice is splitting with Nestlé USA to take control of a line of branded energy drinks in a move that marks the next phase in the smoothie chain’s plan to become a global billion-dollar consumer products brand.

Emeryville, Calif.-based Jamba Inc. said earlier this month that it has acquired the product formulation and intellectual property for a line of Jamba All-Natural Energy Drinks developed under a licensing agreement with Nestlé. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Jamba said it is expected to close by June 20.

The line of bottled drinks, which includes three flavors, was launched last year among retailers in the Northeast. Jamba hopes to expand the line nationally.

James White, Jamba Inc. chief executive, said Wednesday that the move is the first step in a planned shift away from licensing to allow the company more control over the growth of its consumer packaged goods, or CPG, platform.

“We’ve previously used only licensing agreements for our consumer packaged goods products,” he said. “As we enter into the new phase of our approach to CPG, we’ll explore joint venture, co-pack agreements and other sales and distribution arrangements to provide us with increased control of our CPG products and enhanced returns.”

The move is reminiscent of Starbucks’ split with former licensing partner Kraft Foods last year, which allowed the coffeehouse giant to bring its packaged coffee distribution in house. Starbucks followed the breakup with aggressive growth of other CPG product lines, such as the VIA Ready Brew instant coffee, K-Cup packs and Evolution Fresh bottled juices.

RELATED:
• Starbucks plans aggressive retail push
• Starbucks to debut Refreshers energy drink

For its Jan. 1-ended first quarter, Starbucks reported a 72-percent increase in revenue for its CPG category alone.

For Jamba, the growth of CPG has long been part of the transformation plan for the smoothie chain.

A former Safeway executive, White was recruited by Jamba Inc. as chief executive not only to turn around the Jamba Juice chain, but to also to leverage the brand’s retail potential, he said.

“We want to make the brand more available to more consumers globally,” White said.

Like Starbucks, Jamba is going after a piece of the estimated $50 billion health-and-wellness category, which includes a wide runway for “on-the-go products,” White said.

“People want better-for-you options wherever they are,” he said. “You’ll see us fine-tune our portfolio of beverages with some new categories.”

RELATED: Jamba Juice expands fresh juice line

The new JambaGo self-service outlets, which the company is testing in schools and other nontraditional locations, also offer an opportunity for more branded to-go products, he said.

Earlier this year, Jamba bought Talbott Teas, a boutique premium tea company based in Chicago. Starting in the fall, Jamba Juice stores will begin offering Talbott tea, both as brewed beverages and packaged products. The teas will also be sold “selectively” elsewhere.

White said the company may continue to have some licensing agreements within its CPG portfolio, but the goal will be to have more control over the platform’s growth, “to grow faster or make it more profitable.”

Over the past year, Jamba has tripled its CPG royalty stream, which is expected to reach about $3 million this year.

Other than the energy drinks, the chain’s branded products include a frozen home-smoothie kit, a line of fruit-infused coconut water beverages in partnership with Pepsi Beverage Company, all-natural fruit cups and a line of Brazilian super-fruit shots.

Within three to five years, however, White predicts Jamba can build its CPG platform into a billion-dollar business.

White said Jamba’s relationship with Nestlé has been “very strong and collaborative,”

But given the size of the giant global manufacturing brand, White said he was concerned that, “Jamba will not always be a top priority.”

The energy drink line has not been without challenges. Jamba first introduced the energy drinks in 2008 with Nestlé, but the beverages were pulled citing manufacturing problems. It took another two years to get the latest version to market.

Contact Lisa Jennings at lisa.jennings@penton.com.
Follow her on Twitter: @livetodineout

More global growth may be in The Cheesecake Factory Inc.’s future, but the company is waiting to see how its first international franchise locations perform after opening in the Middle East later this year.

David Overton, the company's chair and chief executive, spoke to analysts Wednesday about potential growth after reporting the ninth consecutive quarter of same-store sales increases for its casual-dining brands.

Overton was calling in from Asia, where he was exploring opportunities for the company’s brands, said Douglas Benn, The Cheesecake Factory’s chief financial officer.

Though many U.S.-based restaurant chains have aggressively pushed growth internationally in recent years, The Cheesecake Factory announced its first-ever move overseas just last year. The company signed a franchise agreement with Kuwait-based Alshaya, a large franchise group that operates many brands in about 19 countries.

The franchisee plans to open 22 Cheesecake Factory restaurants in five Middle Eastern countries over the next five years and expects to launch three of them by mid-summer, Benn said. He added that Alshaya would like to expand its reach with The Cheesecake Factory in more territories. “But we’re walking before we run with them,” he said.

The company has been meeting with a number of potential partners in places like Hong Kong, Korea and Japan, where franchisees “would like to bring Cheesecake Factory brands to their part of the world,” Benn said. “We are having those discussions.”

In the U.S., the company is planning to open seven to eight new restaurants this year. One will be a Grand Lux Café, the company’s 13-unit secondary brand, which had put growth on hold since the recession hit.

Looking at first quarter results, Overton said the 1.9-percent increase in traffic was higher than the industry average for casual dining, according to data tracked by the company.

Still, The Cheesecake Factory hasn’t yet reached the peak traffic levels of pre-recession years, when restaurants were recording average unit volumes of about $11 million. Today, average unit volumes are just over $10 million, “and that difference is entirely guest-count related,” said Benn.

The company backed off slightly from projections of food cost increases for 2012. Commodity inflation would likely be up between 2 percent to 2.5 percent for the year, down from earlier estimates of about 3 percent.

Contact Lisa Jennings at lisa.jennings@penton.com.
Follow her on Twitter: @livetodineout
 

Customizable carry-and-go foods are the items appearing most on food truck menus in 2011, as are high-end condiments or flavorings to dress up basic dishes, according to data compiled by research firm Datassential.

Sandwiches ranked number one as most listed on food truck menus in the entrée category, followed closely by Mexican items.

Mexican food ranked high mostly because food trucks have combined Mexican entrées, such as tacos, with other food and cuisine types to create portable versions for consumers. One example of this trend is the Kogi BBQ truck based out of Los Angeles, which made its name serving Korean barbecue tacos.

Other top-ranking entrée items such as hot dogs, sausages and burgers highlighted the importance of portability for food trucks. Fries topped the list for popular appetizers and sides, followed by protein and condiments. The limited-service nature of a food truck makes every item count, according to Jana Mann, director of menu trends for research firm Datassential, which surveys food truck menus each year.

“I think that like fine-dining chefs and innovators, [food truck operators] are thinking about everything they put on their menus,” Mann said. “Everything needs to be a standout and differentiated from their competition, and convince consumers to choose a food truck over other eating choices.”

While words like fries and burgers might sound like the usual when it comes to limited-service styles, their versatility as dish components are crucial for food trucks, especially when taking into account that the third most listed item for appetizers and sides is condiments.

Mann said that food truck operators are viewing condiments as an essential part of the menu, rather than as an afterthought, mixing and matching flavors and ingredients to “show off their entrees.”

Datassential's report cited examples such as peach-mint sauce and pineapple-poblano salsa. For fries, menu examples included high-end items such as duck fat-garlic fries and gourmet cheese fries as well.

“A lot of the [food truck] owners are chef-trained so they’re familiar with a lot of the exciting and premium sophisticated ingredients,” Mann said.

Datassential also found that innovative and premium ingredients also were echoed in entrées, in particular with the use of ethnic ingredients and flavors not typically found in restaurant chains.

Going back to the example of the burger, ingredients such as high-end proteins and toppings like bacon-tomato jam and macaroni and cheese were cited. Specialty sausage trucks put their own twist on sausages with ingredients such as lamb, curried chicken and duck.

Contact Sonya Moore at sonya.moore@penton.com.

Burger King franchisee Carrols Restaurant Group Inc. said Wednesday its board of directors had approved the spin-off of Fiesta Restaurant Group Inc., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary comprising the Pollo Tropical and Taco Cabana fast-casual brands.

The spin-off of Fiesta, which is expected to be finalized May 7, will be completed through a tax-free dividend of common stock of Fiesta to Carrols’ shareholders.

As of Jan. 1, 2012, Fiesta’s company-owned restaurants included 91 Pollo Tropical locations and 158 Taco Cabana outlets. Fiesta franchises 31 Pollo Tropical restaurants in Florida, Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Honduras, Trinidad, Venezuela and the Bahamas.

Carrols operated 298 Burger King locations as of Jan. 1, 20212.

For the year ended Dec. 31, 2011, Carrols generated total revenues of $822.5 million, of which Fiesta accounted for $475.0 million, or 57.7 percent of total consolidated revenues.

Late last summer, Syracuse, N.Y.-based Carrols named Tim Taft chief executive of Fiesta Restaurant Group. Taft succeeded Alan Vituli, who remains chief executive and chairman of Carrols and chairman of Fiesta.

Carrols’ stockholders will receive one share of Fiesta common stock for each share of Carrols common stock held at the close of business April 26.

Following the distribution, Carrols’ stockholders will own 100 percent of Fiesta’s outstanding common stock.

Fiesta’s common stock was scheduled to begin trading on a “when issued” basis April 26 on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol FRGI, and will begin trading on a “regular way” basis May 8.

Carrols’ common stock will continue to trade on NASDAQ exchange under the symbol TAST.

Late last month Carrols also announced that it had agreed to acquire 278 company-owned Burger King locations through an asset purchase agreement with Burger King Corp. Carrols said the transaction would make it the system’s largest global franchisee with 575 Burger King units.

Carrols also agreed to pay Burger King about $15.8 million for the Burger King outlets, which are in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. The acquisition also will give the Miami-based franchisor a 28.9-percent equity interest in Carrols.

Contact Paul Frumkin at paul.frumkin@penton.com.
 

Steve Heeley will take the lead as president and chief executive of Earl of Sandwich, the chain’s parent company Planet Hollywood Group of Companies said Thursday.

Heeley replaces Seth Makowsky, who is no longer with the company.

"As we embark on our tremendous growth phase, I am delighted that Steve has joined the company. His vast experience with growing other brands in the fast-casual restaurant segment will be key to our future success," said Planet Hollywood Group president and chief executive David Crabtree. "With his strong operations and leadership background, Steve has the experience and drive that will prove invaluable as we continue to grow Earl of Sandwich."

RELATED: Earl of Sandwich expands in the Big Apple

Most recently, Heeley was chief operating officer of Au Bon Pain. Before that, he served as senior vice president and chief operating officer of Baja Fresh Mexican Grill for seven years. He has more than 20 years experience in the fast-casual restaurant segment.

"I am thrilled to be taking the lead at Earl of Sandwich, a brand that clearly has the potential for significant growth," Heeley said. "Earl of Sandwich is a unique, great food brand that is cutting a new path in fast casual dining. Our legions of raving fans are already pointing the way for our trajectory."

Over the past year, Earl of Sandwich has opened restaurants in New York; Anaheim, Calif.; and Disneyland Paris.

The fast-casual, 15-unit Earl of Sandwich chain is a collaboration between Robert Earl, chairman and founder of Planet Hollywood Group and a direct descendant of the fourth Earl of Sandwich, John Montagu, who is credited with inventing the sandwich in 1762.

Contact Marcella Veneziale at marcella.veneziale@penton.com.

Officials for Famous Dave’s of America Inc. said the decline in traffic that caused a 32-percent decrease in first-quarter earnings resulted from pressure on consumers from high gas prices, particularly in its East Coast markets.

Chief executive Christopher O’Donnell said traffic was “erratic,” as a lift in guest counts that happened across the industry due to warm weather waned when fuel prices began rising and taking a greater share of consumers’ discretionary income.

That pattern played out to a high degree on the East Coast, where 186-unit Famous Dave’s has many of its highest-volume barbecue restaurants, meaning the brand felt the brunt of gasoline inflation’s effects, he said.

“We know that gasoline prices have an impact on guest traffic, and gas prices on the East Coast were significantly higher during the quarter than the national average,” O’Donnell said. “We believe this dynamic clearly had an impact on sales in this region.”

In the April 1-ended first quarter, Famous Dave’s same-store sales fell 1.6 percent at company-owned locations and were flat at franchised units.

Chief financial officer Diana Purcel said 10 percent of Famous Dave’s units are located in the Northeast and Mid Atlantic regions, but the average unit volumes are “pretty dramatic” and have a bigger effect on the brand’s results for company-owned stores. However, franchised restaurants showed strength in the West, she added. The Phoenix and Michigan markets were other pockets of strength, she said.

Going into the second quarter of 2012, Famous Dave’s also will roll over the public-relations benefit it received in last year’s second quarter when founder and chairman “Famous Dave” Anderson starred in reality competition show “Best in Smoke.”

But O’Donnell said the company’s busy schedule of press events and barbecue competitions this year would sustain the level of awareness the brand has built up and would mitigate pressure on traffic from comparisons with last year. Famous Dave’s team took first place in four categories last weekend at the Kansas City BBQ Society’s annual “Pork in the Park” competition, he noted.

“We’re confident that we’ll continue to grow traffic these next two quarters, as we have in the past,” O’Donnell said.

The chain would try to stay away from highly competitive pricing games with other casual-dining chains, he said, seeking to grow traffic and sales through service initiatives and accentuating its expertise in barbecue rather than through deep discounts. Famous Dave’s enacted a 1.5-percent menu price increase in February, but O’Donnell said customer acceptance of those prices was fine and did not contribute to traffic declines as much as gas prices did.

“Focusing on our authenticity, really making sure the upcoming limited-time offers are strong, and investing in our training and people should really engage our consumers,” he said. “We’ll probably see additional focus on social media to drive traffic and to understand how to move different segments into the restaurants.”

Catering sales increased in the first quarter, accounting for more than 5 percent of sales, O’Donnell noted. Famous Dave’s will roll out its marketing campaign for catering ahead of graduation season shortly, he added.

“We view this as a positive sign that consumers are regaining some confidence in the economy and that this revenue stream could be meaningful to us in future quarters,” O’Donnell said.

O’Donnell and Purcel also pointed to the brand’s fast-casual prototype, opened last year in Eden Prairie, Minn., as a possible driver of sales and franchise expansion in the future.

The fast-casual location attracts more solo diners, younger clientele and a higher mix of female customers, he said. A fast-casual franchised location is scheduled to open near Portland, Ore., in May, and the company will open a corporate location of the new prototype near Chicago later this summer.

“I feel good about what we’re learning there and can take systemwide to our full-service restaurants,” he said. “Once we get a few more of these under our belts … we can really dissect the business model.”

Minneapolis-based Famous Dave’s operates 53 company-owned restaurants and franchises another 133 locations in 35 states.

Contact Mark Brandau at mark.brandau@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @Mark_from_NRN

Product and marketing innovation helped drive Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc.'s strong performance in the first quarter of 2012, according to company officials.

Net income for the company jumped to $26 million, or 21 cents per share, in the quarter, reversing a net loss $1.7 million in the first quarter of 2011. Revenue jumped 9.5 percent to $152.4 million, up from $139.2 million a year earlier.

“We carried the momentum from 2011 into early 2012,” Dunkin’ Brands president and chief executive Nigel Travis told investors during a conference call announcing the financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2012.

Travis noted that key financial metrics, including domestic same-store sales growth for both brands, were “solidly up over the same time last year.”

Dunkin’ Brands is the parent company of Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins, both of which are nearly 100 percent franchised. Royalties derived from domestic Dunkin’ Donuts’ units account for more than 70 percent of all corporate revenue, Travis said.

Dunkin’ Donuts saw same-store sales growth of 10.9 percent for the quarter, compared to 5.4 percent in the first quarter of 2011. Baskin-Robbins’ same-store sales were up 7.2 percent, compared to 2.8 percent in the year-earlier quarter.

Travis attributed much of that growth to increases in both customer traffic and average checks, particularly at Dunkin’ Donuts, which continued to enjoy strong beverage sales.

More generally, he said the positive results were driven by product and marketing innovation and operational improvements at both brands.

At Dunkin’ Donuts he said the introduction during the quarter of the Angus steak breakfast sandwich and the bakery sandwiches, intended to help drive lunchtime traffic, performed well, as did the new smoked sausage sandwich. The sausage pancake bites, introduced in January, were a successful limited time offering, and the heart-shaped doughnuts introduced for Valentine’s Day helped drive Dunkin’ Donuts’ best week of doughnut sales in history.

Dunkin’ Donuts introduced K-cups intended for home use last year. Travis said that typically sales of that type of product dip in the first quarter, after the winter holidays, but sale of Dunkin’s K-cups remained steady and represented 30 percent of comp store increases in the quarter. He added that he was confident that K-cups were not cannibalizing sales of coffee in stores.

Travis attributed Baskin-Robbins’ improved performance to the unseasonably warm weather, which he said contributed to 6 percentage points of same-store sales increases.

The rest he attributed to operational improvements and the popularity of limited-time flavors such as the 3-Point Chocolate, introduced as the flavor of the month in March, during the national college basketball tournament. He also said that the cake bites, introduced last year, had proved to be a helpful sampling vehicle for cake sales.

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Poised for expansion

Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc.'s strong first quarter will enable the company to achieve its goal of doubling the number of Dunkin’ Donuts units in the United States over the next 20 years, company officials said.

Travis, who had recently returned from a multi-unit franchising conference in Las Vegas, said Dunkin’ Donuts’ improved performance spurred the interest of potential new franchisees, who flocked to the chain’s booth during the event.

Existing franchisees also were eager to expand, he said, noting that about 400 of them participated in a recent conference call regarding new franchises — four times more than had been expected and accounting for about half of all domestic Dunkin’ Donuts franchisees.

Travis reiterated the company’s strategy of expanding Dunkin’s domestic units into contiguous territories. “We’re intent on bringing our delicious products, our fast service and great value to more parts of the U.S.,” he said.

A total of 45 net new Dunkin’ Donuts units opened domestically during the quarter, of which about 20 percent were in the brand’s core territories and 80 percent were elsewhere, including Chicago, Pittsburgh, Orlando, Tampa, Indianapolis and Raleigh. Travis said the chain is also on track to add 260-280 units in 2012 in markets such as Denver; Houston; El Paso, Texas; Albuquerque, N.M.; St. Joseph, Mo.; and Lincoln, Neb.

Average unit volumes at the restaurants were up slightly in the quarter, to $858,000, from $855,000 a year ago.

In response to a question from an analyst during the call, chief financial officer Neil Moses said average unit volume at new domestic Dunkin’ Donuts locations outside of its core stronghold in the Northeast actually were slightly higher in 2010 and 2011 than new restaurants in core territories. He said that boded well for the company as it continued to expand to new territories. He added that cash-on-cash returns exceeded 25 percent. “That’s very encouraging, because we think that’s the magic number for franchisees … who are interested in coming into the system,” Moses said.

Travis added that Dunkin’ Brands’ agreement to phase in uniform distribution prices over the next three years, signed at the beginning of the quarter with National DCP, a franchisee-owned purchasing and distribution cooperative, would make opening in new territories even more attractive. Currently, Dunkin’ Donuts units in territories with fewer locations generally have higher product costs.

For the first time, Dunkin’ Brands, which went through with an initial public offering in July, 2011, released same-store sales for its international divisions; they rose by 2.3 percent at Dunkin’ Donuts, and by 7.6 percent at Baskin-Robbins.

At the end of the quarter there were 7,060 domestic Dunkin’ Donuts units, up 3.8 percent from 6,799 from a year ago. Dunkin’ Donuts international closed a net seven units during the quarter, mostly due to leases expiring in the Philippines, where about 70 units closed, resulting in a total of 3,061 points of distribution at the end of the quarter.

Baskin-Robbins closed a net 5 units domestically, leaving a total of 2,488 units at the end of the quarter. Internationally, a net 49 Baskin-Robbins units opened, for a total of 4,267 units.

Contact Bret Thorn at bret.thorn@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @foodwriterdiary

Starbucks Corp. is upping the number of new units planned this year and upgraded its earnings outlook after reporting an 18-percent increase in net income for the second quarter on Thursday.

For the April 1-ended second quarter, the Seattle-based company reported net earnings of $309.9 million, or 40 cents per share, compared with $261.6 million, or 34 cents per share, a year ago.

Global revenue increased 15 percent to $3.2 billion on same-store sales that climbed 7 percent, driven by a 6-percent increase in traffic and a 1-percent increase in average check, the company said.

Howard Schultz, Starbucks’ chair, president and chief executive, attributed the quarter’s success to the chain’s expanded retail presence, strong sales growth in China, the introduction of new products like the Refreshers energy drinks and increased efficiencies that “more than offset” high legacy commodity costs.

“I could not be more excited or more optimistic about the future of our company as we pursue disciplined, profitable growth all around the world,” Schultz said.

Troy Alstead, Starbucks chief financial officer, said Starbucks’ revenue growth was driven by strong same-store sales and an increasing contribution from the company’s consumer products segment, which it calls “channel development.”

The chain’s China Asia Pacific region, called CAP, showed the highest same-store sales gains of 18 percent for the quarter, of which 14 percent reflected an increase in transactions, and average check was up 4 percent.

In the Americas, which includes the U.S., Canada and Latin America, same-store sales increased 8 percent, reflecting a 7-percent increase in transactions and a 1-percent increase in check average.

However, a decline in same-store sales of 1 percent was reported in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, a region known as EMEA, the company said.

Revenue from the channel development segment, which includes Starbucks’ packaged coffees and products like VIA Ready Brew, K-Cups and the new Refreshers energy drink line, grew by 57 percent during the quarter to $321.5 million.

The company said the increase was primarily due to sales of K-Cup portion packs and the benefit of revenues from packaged coffee sales under a direct distribution model after splitting from former licensing partner Kraft Foods last year.

During the quarter, Starbucks opened 176 new locations, including 76 in the Americas division.

For 2012, the company has increased its target for new growth globally, with 1,000 expected to open globally. In the Americas, around 500 new units are planned, about half of which will be licensed locations. Previously, 400 new locations were planned for the region.

More stores are also scheduled for China. This year Starbucks expects to open 400 locations. Previously the target for the year was 300. About two-thirds will be licensed, and half of the CAP locations will be in China specifically.

In EMEA, the company is maintaining its previous estimate of 100 new units, about two-thirds of which will be licensed.

For the year, Starbucks is expecting mid-single-digit increases in same-store sales growth.

Commodity inflation is expected to add about $230 million of cost pressure for 2012, but coffee prices are expected to ease in the second half of the year.

Given the strong results, Starbucks raised its earnings expectations to a range of $1.81 to $1.84 per share for the year.

Contact Lisa Jennings at lisa.jennings@penton.com.
Follow her on Twitter: @livetodineout

BJ's Restaurants Inc. posted Thursday a 19.7-percent increase in profit for the first quarter, and executives looked forward to a new menu introduction in May and the debut of a new guest loyalty program in July.

The Huntington Beach, Calif.-based casual-dining operator said income rose to $8.6 million, or 31 cents a share, in the first quarter, which ended April 3, up from $7.2 million, or 26 cents a share, in last year’s quarter. Revenues were up 15.7 percent, to $167.6 million from $144.9 million in the prior-year period.

The company said it will roll out of several sales-building initiatives this year, including a new menu in May and a “state-of-the-art” guest loyalty program in July. The company will also launch its first television advertising in the Sacramento, Calif., market in May.

Jerry Deitchle, BJ’s chairman and chief executive, said in a prepared statement: “Our double-digit increase in total revenues was the result of the continued successful execution of our new restaurant expansion program in a high-quality manner, coupled with our ninth consecutive quarter of growth in comparable restaurant sales.”

BJ’s reported same-store sales increased 3.3 percent in the first quarter, compared to a 7.8-percent increase last year.

Deitchle attributed that same-store sales increase “to the steadily increasing popularity of the BJ's restaurant concept with consumers, combined with the productive and efficient execution of the concept by our restaurant operators in driving guest traffic during the quarter.”

BJ’s opened two new restaurants during the quarter: One in Clearwater, Fla., and another in Salinas, Calif., bringing the total to 118.

"Our 2012 new restaurant development pipeline remains in excellent shape as of today,” Deitchle said, “and we are now focusing on building a solid pipeline of high-quality locations for potential 2013 and 2014 restaurant openings.” BJ’s plans to open five new restaurants in the second quarter, one of which has already opened in Dublin, Calif. In addition, the company will open as many as six new restaurants in the third quarter, including a relocation of a smaller-format unit, and three in the fourth quarter.

BJ's Restaurants operates its 118 restaurants under the BJ's Restaurant & Brewery, BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse, BJ's Pizza & Grill and BJ's Grill brands. While its home state of California remains its most-penetrated market with 58 units, it also has 24 units in Texas, nine in Florida and half a dozen or fewer units in 10 other states.

Contact Ron Ruggless at ronald.ruggless@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @RonRuggless

For this $9 appetizer, chef Benjamin Lambert draws inspiration from the congee, or rice porridge, that he ate when he lived in New York City.

He starts with Carolina Gold rice and overcooks it so the grains start to fall apart a little — an idea he got from an unpublished book of Gray Kunz’s recipes from the 1990s, when the legendary chef ran the New York restaurant Lespinasse.

Lambert purées about a quarter of the rice and then adds it back to the rest. Then he finishes the rice with some stock and butter.

He coats duck tongues with salt, bay leaf, thyme and rosemary and lets them cure overnight. The next day he slowly cooks them in duck fat. He also deep-fries duck skin to make cracklin’s.

At service he spoons the porridge into a cast-iron skillet.

When garlic shoots are in season, in the spring, he garnishes the porridge with them. The rest of the year he uses scallions. He also adds crispy-fried shallots.

He warms the duck tongues in duck jus and adds them and the cracklin’s to the porridge, topping it all with a raw egg to be stirred into the dish by the guest.

“People that get it love it,” Lambert said. “But people are really turned off by duck tongue sometimes.”

Contact Bret Thorn at bret.thorn@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @foodwriterdiary

Bravo Brio Restaurant Group indicated that it would deploy several initiatives to drive guest counts in its upscale-casual restaurants while continuing to aggressively manage costs following modest gains in sales and traffic in the first quarter.

For the March 25-ended first quarter, Bravo Brio’s net income fell 17.3 percent to $3.8 million, or 18 cents per share, compared with $4.5 million, or 22 cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenue increased 8.8 percent to $98.4 million, reflecting 92 additional operating weeks from eight restaurants opened in 2011 and three in the first quarter, as well as a total increase in first-quarter same-store sales of 0.2 percent. Officials said the result was split equally between a 0.1-percent uptick in traffic and a 0.1-percent increase in average check.

Same-store sales rose 0.7 percent at Brio Tuscan Grille, including a 1.2-percent increase in guest counts, and fell 0.4 percent at Bravo Cucina Italiana, where a slight increase in the average check partly offset a 0.9-percent decline in guest counts.

“Our continued focus is on guest-centric, front-of-the-house programs that are geared to enhance the Bravo Brio experience, whether guests are looking to dine in our restaurants or use our catering and to-go program,” said chief operating officer Brian O’Malley.

Such programs include recently launched gluten-free menu items, healthful items sold at slightly lower price points, and a new 45-minute guarantee at lunch, which accounts for 30 percent of the company’s total sales mix.

“This commitment is geared toward particularly capturing the business diner segment, for whom time considerations are important,” O’Malley said. “In truth, we are not changing any operational procedures, but rather reinforcing the idea that a full-service lunchtime experience can be had in 45 minutes.”

Both concepts debuted revamped menus in April, with slight price increases that would account for a total menu price hike between 1 percent and 2 percent for the year. Other initiatives would extend one brand’s strengths to the other in order to boost traffic, said chief executive Saed Mohseni.

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The company also will extend its successful catering program to Bravo Cucina Italiana after positive results achieved at Brio Tuscan Grille. At the same time, Bravo’s online ordering program will be implemented at Brio as well.

Stephen Anderson, securities analyst with Miller Tabak & Co., wrote in a research note that the initiatives management specified ought to push same-store sales higher through the remainder of 2012.

“We expect traffic gains to accelerate in the second quarter with the introduction of a 45-minute lunch guarantee at Bravo and Brio,” he wrote, “though we caution headline comp growth may rise at a slower rate than we had expected due to a lower average ticket at lunch.”

Anderson noted that Bravo’s takeout business had grown from 2 percent of sales in 2008 to 7.5 percent of sales in 2011 based on the strength of online ordering and speculated that Bravo Brio is targeting the same takeout-sales mix at Brio. He added that Bravo Brio’s lackluster same-store sales in the first quarter “should not be overshadowed by more aggressive margin expansion.”

“We were particularly encouraged to see the company’s food cost ratio actually decline 0.9 percent year-over-year,” Anderson wrote. “Even considering the combined 1.9-percent year-over-year jump in labor and new-unit opening expenses to support a more aggressive new-unit opening schedule in the first quarter, we think Bravo Brio’s ability to generate modest year-over-year operating margin gain is evidence of management’s firm hold on costs.”

Bravo Brio reaffirmed an earlier outlook projecting an annual same-store sales increase between 1 percent and 2 percent for 2012, as well as the opening of nine restaurants, mostly Brio locations, during the year.

The Columbus, Ohio-based company operates 47 Bravo locations, 48 Brio units and one location of its Bon Vie concept in 30 states.

RELATED: Casual-dining restaurants focus on special offers

Contact Mark Brandau at mark.brandau@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @Mark_from_NRN

Ruby Tuesday Inc. has named Michael Moore as its chief financial officer, the company said Thursday.

Moore will assume his new role on June 5. He replaces Marguerite Duffy, who said in January that she would retire after serving in the position since 2001.

In a statement, Ruby Tuesday chief executive Sandy Beall described Duffy as “an invaluable partner and asset to Ruby Tuesday.”

Moore most recently served as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Pamida Stores and interim chief financial officer of Kellwood Inc., an affiliated portfolio company of Sun Capital Partners. Prior to that, he was executive vice president and chief financial officer of Advanced Auto Parts.

In January, Maryville, Tenn.-based Ruby Tuesday reported a $2 million net loss for the second quarter, but recently said it would buy the fast-casual Lime Fresh Mexican Grill chain for $24 million.

The Ruby Tuesday casual-dining chain has 740 company-operated restaurants and 85 franchised units around the world.

Contact Charlie Duerr at charles.duerr@penton.com.

McAlister’s Deli this spring has debuted a new prototype that refreshes the 23-year-old fast-casual concept and emphasizes its signature tea program with a stand-apart Tea Bar.

The new look debuted full scale at newly constructed franchised units in Lexington, Ky., and Aurora, Colo., in March. New elements were first vetted in a “heavy remodel” at a company restaurant in Clinton, Miss., that reopened in December, said Frank Paci, McAlister’s president and chief executive.

McAlister’s, which has 307 units in 22 states, has refreshed its colors and has started offering a variety of seating options, including traditional tables, booths and bar-height seating. In addition, McAlister’s offers amenities such as free Wi-Fi and a new Tea Bar.

McAlister’s is known for its sweet tea made with filtered water and cane sugar and is eyeing expansion of that signature offering with new options beyond its traditional black-tea blend.

Ridgeland, Miss.-based McAlister’s had U.S. systemwide sales of $384 million in 2011, up 7.56 percent from 2010, according to Nation’s Restaurant News Top 200 research. Systemwide estimated sales per unit, which is a proprietary NRN Top 200 number, rose 4.91 percent, to $1.26 million. The number of restaurants opened at the end of the fiscal year increased 0.66 percent, or by a net two units, to 305 locations, including 36 company-operated and 269 franchised units.

Paci talked earlier this week with Nation’s Restaurant News about the design changes and other initiatives at the company.

What are the biggest changes brought about by the new design?

If you look at our current design, it’s still got knickknacks on the wall. We’re going with a much cleaner look. We’ve put in this Tea Bar in the front counter. Now you order and go pick up your tea, as opposed to right now ordering at the counter and the cashier has to turn around and hand the tea to you — that slows down the line.

Take a look at McAlister’s new restaurant design; story continues below

What else are you planning to do with the Tea Bar?

Ultimately we’re looking at doing flavor shots and things like that within the tea. Tea is such a big part of our concept. We really wanted to romance that.

[The Tea Bar] also gives you a great opportunity to sample product there if we have something new. We’ve got a green tea going into one of the remodeled corporate stores, so we’re sampling the green tea at the Tea Bar there.

What are the operational advantages of the Tea Bar?

Right now, a guest kind of has to wait at the counter after completing an order to get the drinks. We can move that down to a separate area, where we can service you on the drinks. We also are adding self-serve cola. We can also make sure we have the right blend of ice with the tea.

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Are you doing any customization?

When you come to the Tea Bar, you can tell us whether you want a half tea/half lemonade. We’ll look at fruit and other ways to customize the tea. It’s something that has potential.

Are you expanding your tea offerings?

In places where we have the Tea Bar, we have our traditional and sweet tea, and we’ve got a citrus green tea and a mango green tea. So we have four flavors. In regular locations, we only have two. We think our product deserves a premium. It’s served in a clear glass. We felt we wanted to romance that a little bit more. We’ve run campaigns where we say, “Leave sweet tea to the professionals.”

How have the design elements of the restaurant changed?

It’s got brighter colors. There are a lot of greens, and it was more muted in the past. It’s more updated. We’ve changed the dark green ceilings to white, which I think really opens up the store. We’ve installed different lighting. The original stores had brass rails and curtains from the mid-1990s.

Any changes in unit size?

Typically it’s 3,000 to 4,000 square feet. Probably the sweet spot is around 3,600 square feet. Seating ranges from 100 to 150. The sweet spot would be 124–125.

How about flexible formats?

We’ve got a couple of different designs. One of the challenges out there with development today is there is less new development, so a lot of times you have to look at going into second-use space. We have the flexibility to do end-cap concepts. We have franchisees who have built freestanding stores with a pick-up window, as well. And in part of that effort to be more convenient to our customers, we’re testing curbside [order delivery] in some locations.

How much curbside order delivery do you have?

We have that in two locations, which are company stores. [We've had] one for about six weeks, and the other one just started up.

If you are not going to have a drive thru, how do you make it convenient? When you bundle that with the mobile society, online ordering and catering to families (where’s it tough for mom if she’s got kids to get out of the car), your option becomes a drive thru or something else. One of the ways you compete is with curbside.

Is that difficult to add to operations?

We already have runners who deliver food to the table. Delivering food to a car really is not a stretch for us.

Alan Liddle contributed to this report.

Contact Ron Ruggless at ronald.ruggless@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @RonRuggless

Fazoli’s has added two new flavors to its Lemon Ice beverage lineup, marking another extension to a menu that has been revamped over the course of two years and has driven 20 consecutive months of same-store sales increases.

The two new flavors, Wildberry Lemon Ice and Peach Lemon Ice, join the original and strawberry flavors already on the menu. The beverages include real fruit purees.

All company-owned Fazoli’s restaurants are serving the full Lemon Ice lineup, and the brand will finish the rollout to its franchised locations in the near future.

“Our Italian Lemon Ice and Strawberry Lemon Ice have been signature items for years, and we know our guests will go wild over the new flavors made with real fruit,” said Cathy Hull, the Lexington, Ky.-based chain’s chief marketing officer, in a statement. “These on-trend beverage additions are the latest in a series of significant enhancements that make Fazoli’s menu much more relevant to today’s guests.”

RELATED: Fazoli’s new prototype helps drive sales

Blended-ice beverages have been prominent across the quick-service segment, as several chains have turned to such drinks for their favorable margins and ability to drive traffic between traditional dayparts.

McDonald’s, for instance, debuted Frozen Strawberry Lemonade in May 2011 to round out its sales-driving McCafé lineup that also includes Frappes and Real Fruit Smoothies. The company will begin selling the Cherry Berry Chiller at some point this year, officials have indicated. Burger King also included frappes and smoothies in its relaunched menu this year.

RELATED:

• Chains aim for summer sales with frozen drinks and treats
• McDonald's McCafé: An evolution

Fazoli’s will reinforce marketing for its new Lemon Ice flavors this summer with the “Real Food Gone Wild” promotion, which will advertise Wildberry Tea and Wildberry Cheesecake, made with the same fruit puree as the Wildberry Lemon Ice.

The fast-casual Italian chain of 217 restaurants is one of several foodservice brands owned by Boca Raton, Fla.-based Sun Capital Partners, which acquired Fazoli’s in 2006.

Watch a commercial for Fazoli’s new look

Contact Mark Brandau at mark.brandau@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @Mark_from_NRN

Starbucks Corp. is ramping up growth for its coffeehouse locations in the Americas region and China, saying any talk of saturation or the inability to find good real estate should be “taken off the table.”

After reporting an 18-percent increase in net income for its second quarter Thursday and a global same-store sales increase of 7 percent, Starbucks told analysts in a conference call that the company will raise the number of locations it expects to open this year to 1,000 from the previous target of 800.

During fiscal 2012, the company expects to open 500 new units in the region called the Americas, which includes the U.S., Canada and Latin America. At the end of the April 1-ended second quarter, the chain had 12,570 locations within the region, roughly 100 more than the same quarter the prior year.

Through the recession, Starbucks closed close to 1,000 underperforming units across the U.S. as part of the chain’s turnaround. Now, said Howard Schultz, Starbucks’ chair, president and chief executive, the picture looks very different for the coffeehouse brand.

U.S. locations open within the past year are performing “extraordinarily well,” Schultz said.

“So any thought of saturation or inability to find quality real estate and continue to expand in the U.S., or, for that matter, North America, should be taken off the table,” Schultz added. “I can’t envision in the coming years that we’d open less stores than we just announced.”

He added that markets like Brazil, where Starbucks has fewer than 100 units, have room for growth, as well as other countries, like Argentina and Mexico.

Same-store sales for the Americas grew 8 percent during the quarter.

China, however, remains the region where Starbucks sees the most opportunity.

Starbucks said it is adding another 100 planned units to its schedule for the China Asia Pacific region for a total of 400 to open this year. Half of those new units will be in China, where the same-store sales increase for the quarter topped 20 percent for the seventh consecutive quarter.

Europe remains a problem for Starbucks, however. The Europe, Middle East and Africa — or EMEA — region saw same-store sales drop 1 percent during the quarter. Schultz said same-store sales increases in the United Kingdom and France were not enough to compensate for declines in Germany and Ireland.

Fears of a double-dip recession in the U.K. and lingering high unemployment across Europe have dragged down results, Schultz said. But the company is focusing efforts on a turnaround similar to that of the U.S. in recent years.

“We’ve seen this movie before and I’m proud to say it had a positive ending … in the U.S.,” Schultz said. “But this is not going to happen overnight.”

Meanwhile, the company is aggressively growing its channel development division, what used to be known as its consumer products group, or CPG, segment, which includes packaged coffees, single-cup products and bottled beverages.

Schultz said sales of Starbucks’ new Blonde Roast coffees, a lighter roast that debuted in January, have been strong, contributing to a 17-percent increase in packaged coffee sales during the quarter. K-Cup sales also contributed about half of the 57-percent increase in revenue growth for the channel development division.

The company also announced the debut of a new Refreshers energy drink during the quarter, which will be first offered as a handcrafted beverage in stores over the summer, followed by the launch of a bottled version available in retail outlets.

The chain is also rolling out bottled Evolution Fresh juices in Starbucks stores after acquiring the juice maker last year.

Schultz said he sees Evolution Fresh as yet another potential billion-dollar Starbucks brand.

The chain also opened its first Evolution Fresh retail concept in Bellevue, Wash., during the quarter, offering premium juices and healthful foods. More are planned, he hinted, saying the customer response to the concept has been positive.

“We are incorporating the early learnings from the first store into plans for future retail expansion,” Schultz said.

Contact Lisa Jennings at lisa.jennings@penton.com.
Follow her on Twitter: @livetodineout

Domino’s Pizza’s promotional strategy in the first quarter highlighted side items like Parmesan Bread Bites, and while the move did not spur incremental traffic, it did drive gains in the average check and profit margins at the unit level, which is the first step toward eventually growing in the United States again, officials said.

While the company’s domestic unit count declined a net nine restaurants in the first quarter, Domino’s aim is to set itself up for renewed domestic expansion in the future by shoring up unit-level economics, according to chief executive Patrick Doyle.

EARLIER: Domestic growth starts with better unit margins

“We know that profitable franchisees make for a healthy system, and the goal is to turn those profits into new stores so our domestic store growth rate improves over the long term,” Doyle said.

For the March 25-ended first quarter, Domino’s net income decreased 23.6 percent to $20.7 million, or 35 cents per share, compared with $27.1 million, or 43 cents per share, a year earlier. The company said expenses incurred for its recent recapitalization, which was completed in the first quarter, negatively affected earnings by 12 cents per share.

Revenue fell 1.2 percent to $384.6 million during the quarter, due mostly to less company-owned sales following the divestiture of 58 corporate restaurants to franchisees in 2011, as well as lower supply chain revenue. The lower order counts from Domino’s commissary resulted from the company’s move to promote the Parmesan Bread Bites and Stuffed Cheesy Bread side items, which improved store-level profitability.

Same-store sales rose 2 percent in the United States, including gains of 1.6 percent at company-owned restaurants and 2.1 percent at franchised units. International same-store sales rose 4.7 percent.

Promoting profitability in the U.S.

In the first quarter, Domino’s promotion strategy drove the brand’s domestic same-store sales result far more than mild winter weather and high gas prices, Doyle said. Traffic was slightly negative due to the lack of advertising for core pizza products, “but we love what it did for store profits, and we’re pleased that we’re still growing [comparable sales] off a higher base,” he said.

Corporate store margins rose 2.9 percent during the quarter, and though Domino’s did not quantify the increase in profitability for franchisees, Doyle and chief financial officer Michael Lawton disclosed that franchisees’ profitability averages were slightly higher than those for corporate stores.

The 2-percent increase in same-store sales is exactly in the middle of Domino’s long-term guidance, which is growth between 1 percent and 3 percent for the United States, the executives added. The results show the company's potential to consistently grow sales in the low-single digits off a much larger base of sales it earned with the reformulated pizza launched in early 2010 — which produced a 14.3-percent increase in same-store sales in the first quarter of that year.

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The marketing of side items to build the average check already has given way to new-product news in the second quarter, in which Domino’s is promoting its new flavor of Artisan Pizzas. Doyle said the brand would balance its messaging the rest of the year between core-pizza and side item messaging to even out growth in traffic, average check and profit margins.

RELATED: Ad for Parmesan Bread Bites draws attention

Ultimately, he said, once franchisees have their profitability at levels they have targeted they can resume unit growth in the United States in a few years. “If you look at domestic unit growth, we haven’t moved for two decades, really,” he noted. “We’re going to fix that over the medium term, and part of that is getting unit-level profits to a higher level than they’ve been.”

Over the short term, domestic franchisees may grow their unit totals through acquiring company-owned stores or underperforming units from distressed franchisees being weeded out of Domino’s system. “While I’d like them to build new stores, we’re better off as a brand and a system when they buy underperforming stores,” Doyle said. “That trend is easing, which is why there were fewer store closures in the first quarter.”

International gets even bigger

The vast majority in short-term unit growth would come from the international division, Doyle said.

“Stores get built because they should be built,” he said. “It takes some time for that to cycle through, but our franchisees are in a much better place with their overall profitability than they’ve ever been. It’s why we’re seeing incredibly robust results in our international store growth.”

Doyle and Lawton also noted that Domino’s international division’s net opening of 77 locations is the highest first-quarter total in the brand’s history. That expansion led the international system to overtake the United States market in terms of overall number of stores, with 4,912 compared with 4,898 domestic restaurants.

They noted that Turkey and India were particularly strong performers in the first quarter. Surprisingly, Europe’s sales tracked well despite a very weak economy and a few spots of severe unemployment, including rates of more than 24 percent in Spain and in the high teens in Greece, Doyle said.

“Europe has held up really well, and while pizza is not recession-proof, it at least is still recession-resistant,” he said. “Employment levels continue to be the true best predictor of the health of this category, so as you see the extremes in Europe, we feel that. But otherwise, weakness in Europe isn’t showing up in our business.”

Domino’s is based in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Contact Mark Brandau at mark.brandau@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @Mark_from_NRN

John Merlino, Jr. is the new director of culinary development at Fleming's Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar, a 64-unit steakhouse chain headquartered in Newport Beach, Calif. Most recently working as an industry consultant, Merlino was the corporate executive chef and director of research & development at Claim Jumper Restaurants from 1996 to 2006.

Nicholas Elmi, former executive chef of the legendary Le Bec-Fin restaurant in Philadelphia is now executive chef of the new Rittenhouse Tavern in that city. A classically trained chef who also worked at Brasserie Perrier in Philadelphia as well as at Lutèce, Union Pacific and Oceana in New York City and Guy Savoy in Paris, Elmi said about his cooking: “It all goes back to finding the best product, applying proper technique, and treating your environment and profession with respect.”

Items on his new menu include deviled eggs with pork scrapple; wild striped bass with Tuscan kale, hedgehog mushrooms and hibiscus-red wine sauce; and quinoa-crusted Berkshire pork rack with crisp belly, purple mustard and endive.

Bill Sexton has been named executive chef of Phillips Seafood Baltimore, the chains’ flagship on that city’s inner harbor. A long-time Phillips veteran, sexton is the company’s former director of research & development.

Scott Jenkins is the new executive chef of Extra Virgin Restaurant in Arlington, Va. A former chef and food & beverage director at various Hilton Hotels, Jenkins is now following his philosophy of keeping food simple yet stylish, with dishes such as halibut served with garlic-lime butter, pressed and roasted Yukon gold potatoes and lemon asparagus; and Fontina ravioli with basil pesto.

Robert Tobin is the new chef of Aura restaurant and Tamo Bar and Lounge and Tamo Terrace in Boston. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. and a former executive chef of Asia de Cuba in New York City, Tobin most recently consulted with chef David Burke in New York on the opening of David Burke Kitchen at the James Hotel New York.

Paul Joseph is the new executive chef at FireBird restaurant in New York City. The New Jersey native most recently served as chef de cuisine at Le Rendez Vous in Kenilworth, N.J. In his new position he's serving dishes such as house-cured gravlax with beets and lemongrass, filet and rack of lamb with a potato lardon cake, and caramelized root vegetables in Madeira-truffle reduction.

Chad Jajczyk has been promoted from chef de cuisine to executive chef of Ella's American Bistro in Wayne, Pa., where he’s making oatmeal-dusted sweetbreads with lobster mushrooms and stout demiglace, as well as butter-poached argentine pink shrimp and Alaskan king crab with butter dust.

EARLIER: The latest chefs of the move, April 2012

Contact Bret Thorn at bret.thorn@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @foodwriterdiary

IHOP and Applebee’s parent DineEquity Inc. on Tuesday reported a 5.5-percent increase in profit for the first quarter, saying revitalization efforts for both brands are on track, but more work needs to be done.

The company also disclosed an asset purchase agreement for the sale of 39 company-operated Applebee’s locations in Virginia to Potomac Family Dining Group LLC, as part of the chain’s ongoing refranchising effort.

The deal, which is expected to close in the third quarter, is expected to result in proceeds after taxes of about $25 million and reduce DineEquity’s sale-leaseback obligations by about $40 million, plus another $1.6 million in annualized general and administrative savings. DineEquity expects to pay about $6 million related to the deal. It is the second batch of Applebee’s restaurants acquired by Potomac Family Dining, which bought about 30 units in the Washington, D.C., area in 2010.

Once the sale is complete, Applebee’s will be about 96-percent franchised. Since acquiring the Applebee’s chain in 2007, DineEquity has sold 342 company-operated restaurants, including 17 sold during the first quarter in a six-state market area around Memphis, Tenn.

Julia Stewart, DineEquity’s chief executive, said the refranchising strategy helped boost results for the first quarter, ended March 31. However, Stewart said more needs to be done to differentiate both brands, and DineEquity is focused on speeding innovation efforts.

At the 2,018-unit Applebee’s, for example, more than 90 percent of menu items have been replaced or upgraded in recent years, and Stewart said new New Orleans-style dishes on the two-for-$20 menu have done well, such as the Blackened Chicken Penne and the Bourbon Street Chicken and Shrimp sizzling platter.

During the first quarter, 87 Applebee’s were renovated, bringing the total number of restaurants with the new look to 671, or 36 percent of the system. Stewart projected that about half of Applebee’s restaurants will be remodeled by the end of the year. Those that have completed the upgrade are seeing a mid-single-digit increase in sales, she said.

DineEquity is continuing to work on fine-tuning the value message for both brands, but particularly for the 1,551-unit IHOP, which has struggled in recent years.

Stewart said the company may have found its “sweet spot” with its first nationally promoted deal for IHOP, the new “7 for $7” menu that rolled out earlier this year, which allows guests to choose from seven meal options for $7 every day.

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IHOP is also planning to launch a new ad campaign in the second quarter and has worked to improve customer service in restaurants.

The company is still evaluating how its overall marketing strategy is working for the brand, but Stewart said sales of more healthful and low-calorie items have increased steadily and the “7 for $7” items are winning about 5 percent of the mix.

For the long term, Stewart said, the company is still working on what the right value message should be for IHOP. “The good news,” she said, “is that franchisees are very supportive and aligned with the notion of creating the right value message.”

RELATED:
• DineEquity tweaks value strategy at Applebee's, IHOP
• Applebee's, IHOP executives step down
• Applebee's, casual dining raise stakes at lunch
• IHOP retails line of branded syrups

For the year, DineEquity reiterated its outlook, saying same-store sales increases at Applebee’s will likely range between 0.5 percent and 2.5 percent; and between negative 1.5 percent and positive 1.5 percent at IHOP.

Applebee’s franchisees are expected to develop 30 to 40 new restaurants, about half of which will be in the U.S.

IHOP franchisees and area licensees are expected to open 45 to 55 new locations, mostly in the U.S.

DineEquity reported net income of $31.3 million, or $1.64 per share, compared with $29.7 million, or $1.53 per share, in the prior-year period. Domestic systemwide same-store sales increased 1.2 percent at Applebee’s, which the company said was driven by a higher average guest check but partially offset by a decline in traffic.

At IHOP, domestic systemwide same-store sales dropped 0.5 percent for the quarter, driven mostly by a decline in traffic that was offset slightly by a higher guest check average. Revenues declined 18 percent to $245.6 million for the quarter, reflecting ongoing franchising efforts.

DineEquity said it reduced its debt by $85.9 million during the quarter. Since acquiring Applebee’s for $2.3 billion, the company has reduced its debt by $795 million.

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story had incorrectly stated that the "7 for $7" promotion accounted for 7 percent of the menu mix. The correct number is 5 percent.

Contact Lisa Jennings at lisa.jennings@penton.com.
Follow her on Twitter: @livetodineout

Friendly’s Ice Cream LLC has appointed Anthony Lavely as its executive vice president and chief marketing officer, filling the last of the executive positions vacated in February with the departure of the chain’s chief executive and chief marketing officers.

Lavely was CMO of Church’s Chicken from 2009 to 2011, and before that he was senior vice president for marketing and franchise development for Ruth’s Chris Steak House. He also has held management positions at Domino’s Pizza, Long John Silver’s, Burger King and Sara Lee.

In his new role at Friendly’s, Lavely is responsible for all marketing, as well as public relations and product development, the company said in a release. The company also said that Lavely has worked as a consultant to Friendly’s and other foodservice companies over the past year.

Lavely’s appointment comes on the heels of Friendly’s hiring former Panera chief operating officer John Maguire as its chief executive last month, following the departure of former CEO Harsha Agadi, who saw the chain through its Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late 2011 and early 2012. Friendly’s CMO Andrea McKenna stepped down at the same time.

RELATED:
• Panera COO John Maguire leaves to head Friendly's as CEO
• Friendly’s names Richard Del Valle VP restaurant operations support

"We are excited to have Tony join Friendly's. He brings years of experience, a deep knowledge of the restaurant industry, as well as strong familiarity with the Friendly's brand," Friendly’s chief operating officer, Jim Parrish, said in a statement. "Tony has also worked closely with franchisees and will bring additional support to that important aspect of our business," he added.

"My professional enthusiasm in joining Friendly's is only enhanced by vivid childhood memories of Friendly's while growing up in New England," said Lavely, who attended high school in Newton, Mass. "I'm especially eager to work with franchisees who have expanded this iconic brand to other regions."

Friendly’s Ice Cream is based in Wilbraham, Mass., and has about 385 restaurants.

Contact Bret Thorn at bret.thorn@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @foodwriterdiary