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Top 10 2018 QSRweb stories show our eyes are always on the other 'guys'

The top 10 QSR stories this year were all about keeping a friendly, but watchful eye on the competition, who as it turns out were all doing some pretty amazing things this year.

December 24, 2018 by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

It's basic business to make sure you know what "the other guy" is doing ... or gal. That's what our top 10 stories of the year indicate about what our readers are most interested in. It makes perfect sense, of course, if you buy that old adage that you should keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.

And while, most restaurant executives are very much friends with their colleagues at competing brands, well, let's face it, they still want to keep an eye on what they're doing. In fact, the most read article this year was actually a story about the competition for share of plate among QSRs that found In-n-Out Burger to be both the favorite QSR brand and burger chain, among the 11,500 consumers surveyed for last April’s Market Force report.

Likewise, the convenience store, Wawa, was dubbed home of the best fast food sandwich in America, by those same consumers, while pizza buffet brand, Pizza Ranch, was deemed best pizza brand, which QSRweb followed up on by interviewing one of the brand’s executives the next month at the National Restaurant Association annual show in Chicago.

That No. 1 pick out of the year's many feature articles set the tone for the top-read articles of the year on QSRweb, which included a little something from a lot of major QSR brands, as you can plainly see in the following list of the remaining nine most popular feature reads, beginning with KFC's phenomenal success story with its back-of-house training times in testing as reported in August this year.

2. KFC cuts back-of-house training time 75% in North American tests, Aug. 22, 2018.

3. McDonald's faces PR nightmare after video of homeless man goes viral, March 2, 2018.

4. Balance Grille hopes to tip scales in brand's favor with downtown Toledo aquaponics farm, Mar. 5, 2018.

5. Gen Z travelers pick dining out over partying: What it means for QSRs, July 4, 2018.

6. RDI: Why restaurant leaders should know what that means today, June 19, 2018.

7. A&W: Growing again by returning to its 'roots' and root beer, Jan. 5, 2018.

8. Study: Most QSRs aren't 'cool' — why that's a problem, Aug. 10, 2018.

9. McDonald's invests billions into kiosk-heavy remodels in 6,000-plus US stores, Aug. 14, 2018.

10. Subway: The future means 'more, Oct 19, 2018.

Feature photo and first inset photo: iStock

Second inset photo: Balance Grille

About S.A. Whitehead

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Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb editor Shelly Whitehead is a former newspaper and TV reporter with an affinity for telling stories about the people and innovative thinking behind great brands.