News & Media From S.A. Whitehead

Taco Bell rides 'Go Mobile' model to serve 1B drive-thru customers

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

If there are a couple of things we've learned over the past half-year, it's that drive-thru and digital restaurant ordering are here to stay. In this interview…

read now

It takes more than a pandemic to freeze Kona Ice out of summer action

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

Kona Ice has always leaned heavily on summer festivals for a large chunk of annual sales, but as the pandemic turned those events from actual to virtual, the…

read now

Lab-grown meat facing hurdles on race to the bun

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

What obstacles stand in the way of everyday quick-service use of lab-grown meat, and how can the industry successfully cross them?

read now

Where KFC's lab-grown chicken efforts might lead QSRs

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

Can lab-grown or cultivated meat really be a game-changer for QSRs in the future? The scientists at a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit alternative protein…

read now

Dream Dinners makes the meal kit a millennial 'must-have'

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

Newly named Dream Dinners CEO Tina Kuna has been around the block when it comes to making meal kits into big business. In fact, the transformation she led at…

read now

Sonic 'booms' into future with 'oasis' in QSR design desert

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

Shortly after Inspire Brands acquired Sonic Drive-in about 1 1/2 years ago, it began reimagining the brand for the future. That new look has taken shape in a…

read now

Virtual restaurant franchise launches Miami virtual food hall

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

With brands like Chef Burger, El Taco Loco and Mama Rosa, its safe to say that the nation's first virtual restaurant franchise has a little something for…

read now

Hungry Howie's pushes its borders, while Lavu puts a premium on online promotion

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

Hungry Howie's CEO joins today's podcast with the brand's plan to "move on out" around its Motown-area home and beyond. Then Lavu's CEO points to the…

listen now

Fast food drive-thrus: Plan for it now or pay for it later

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

If you're building or renovating a QSR now or in the near future, industry experts increasingly recommend that you find a site and the dollars to include a…

read now

QSRs: 'Cleanliness is the new ambiance'

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

Coming clean takes on a whole new meaning for QSRs in the time of COVID-19.

read now

At 121, Yoshinoya's digital transformation delivers rice bowls for a new age

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

As what many believe may be the world's oldest fast food chain, Yoshinoya -- with 105 U.S. locations --- is proving that you actually can teach that proverbial…

read now

White Castle is nation's 1st fast food brand to deploy Flippy 'robot-on-a-rail'

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

White Castle will test fry-cook robot, Flippy, in September, in its newest incarnation as a robotic arm on a rail. With White Castle, Flippy's starting as a…

read now

The tricky business of covering a QSR's COVID-19 costs

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

Masks, gloves, anti-viral sprays and all the many other additional costs QSRs have to take on in order to also take on business in a pandemic really add up.

read now

What QSRs stand to gain (or lose) by taking a stand

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

This year — more than most — there are plenty of issues up for debate, and many brands are choosing sides. New research shows this act of social…

read now

How one Swedish QSR used tech to increase sales, implement social distancing

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

Sometimes the answers to your QSR's business conundrums are right outside your window.

read now

Is your QSR a brand of ... influence?

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

Want to really pull in that up-and-coming Gen Z-er? Better get to know their online "friends" and fast.

read now

Is Subway's problem bigger than a footlong?

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

The North American Association of Subway Franchisees — representing thousands of U.S. franchisees — said its survey of members showed that 75% of those…

read now

Expert preparation tips for QSR boycotts, vitriol in presidential election year

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

The boycott of Wendy's that ensued after the online "pile-on" under the hashtag #Wendysisoverparty, could happen to any QSR, but these three marketing and…

read now

From eating pods to touchless everything: Where COVID-19-era QSR design is headed

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

From the introduction of novel ideas like eating "pods," to the use of things like German Burger King's tongue-in-cheek social distancing crown, the places we…

read now

Nearly a year after chicken sandwich wars, a major QSR claim to fame comes out of the coop

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

Burgers and fries have always been the instant word associations with QSRs, but now, almost one year after last August's storied chicken sandwich wars, that…

read now