According to Business Week:
Tyler Cowen is America’s Hottest Economist.
* * * * *
Cowen’s menu searching advice:
Order the strangest thing on the menu.
Chances are the chef put the most work into it.
And, Cowen says the best ethnic food is prepared at strip malls.
Caveat diner.
Punch line: Orangutans and Thin Mints don’t mix
* * * * *
Girl Scouts have been selling cookies since 1917.
Last year, troops sold 198 million boxes of cookies.
That’s $714 million worth of cookies, most of which goes to the nonprofit councils under which troops are organized.
But now the “franchise” is under pressure.
Scouts and leaders have criticized their nonprofit organization … and some do not want to sell cookies next year.
Why?
Until 2006, the cookies contained partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, but the scouts switched to palm oil so the cookies would be free of trans fat.
Today, all 16 varieties of GS cookies contain palm oil.
Some rain forests have been cleared for palm oil plantations.
Some endangered orangutans live in rain forests.
There’s the rub.
The Girl Scouts organization says its bakers have told them there isn’t a good alternative to palm oil that would ensure the same taste, texture and shelf life.
The choice: save orangutans or save Thin Mints, Trefoils and Samoas?
Headline in the WSJ: McDonald’s Under Pressure to Fire Ronald
More than 550 health professionals and organizations have signed a letter to McDonald’s. asking the maker of Happy Meals to stop marketing junk food to kids and fire Ronald McDonald.
The campaign is organized by the nonprofit watchdog group Corporate Accountability International, which has also targeted tobacco companies and beverage makers like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo for the environmental impact of plastic bottles.
The letter from the health providers urges McDonald’s to cease marketing food high in salt, fat, sugar and calories to kids, from the use of Ronald McDonald to Happy Meal toys.
Some of the comments to the WSJ article:
Add your comments … best one wins a free Happy Meal.
Thanks to SMH for feeding the lead.
A new Rasmussen Reports national survey reports …
Among those who eat pizza …
The last time they ate pizza, the respondents …
Getting hungry? I am …
TakeAway: Panera Bread investors are hoping the company’s new loyalty program and additional menu items will lead the way for continued sales and traffic growth. The loyalty program, MyPanera cards, is a way for the company to build deeper relationships with people who are already engaged with the brand.
* * * * *
Excerpted from WSJ, “Panera Bread Sees Loyalty, Innovation Bringing in the Dough” By Annie Gasparro, February 11, 2011
On the heels of launching its customer-loyalty program, Panera is bringing in steak as new protein for its sandwiches, which, bolstered by extra marketing, are expected to help continue the trend of increasing sales, especially in the dinner and catering businesses.
The move to add steak to the menu comes at a time when beef prices are at all-time highs and rising, putting additional commodity pressure on Panera. But the company remains confident.
Panera’s loyalty program, MyPanera cards, is expected to be a key driver in future traffic growth, as it allows the company to track what its customers are buying, when they buy it and how much they spend. The free program was launched in the fourth quarter and presents members with “soft rewards,” like complimentary items, that match their buying habits.
This kind of insight can be used to make marketing substantially more effective, analysts point out. By giving a free bakery item to a customer who normally buys just coffee, Panera could create a higher-check customer long-term. In the same way, it could bring breakfast frequenters, for instance, in more regularly for lunch or dinner as well.
Panera isn’t afraid of raising prices coming out of the recession. The bakery chain says its overall commodity costs, about 80% of which are locked in for the year, will be up about 3% this year, causing the company to raise prices 2%. Panera’s bottom line improved through much of the recession, having increased every quarter in nearly three years largely due to customer loyalty. While competitors discounted to lure customers during a slump in dining demand, Panera’s aversion to price cuts succeeded among its base of mostly upper-middle-class customers and revenue growth never reversed.
Edit by AMW
* * * * *
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds:
* * * * * *
* * * * *
Rasmussen Reports, Those Who Eat Fast Food, January 20, 2011
TakeAway: Wendy’s announced a national marketing plan for its new recipe for French fries, the biggest overhaul of its fries in 41 years.
Wendy’s CMO admitted fries “are something we hadn’t been a leader in, in the past.”
The $25 million campaign aims to educate consumers about Wendy’s new fries that it hopes will compete mightily against McDonald’s.
* * * * *
Excerpted from NYTimes, “Wendy’s Rethinks Fries in Nod to More Natural Foods” By Tanzina Vega, November 21, 2010
For the last year, the company has been examining its product line for opportunities to promote food made with more natural ingredients. Wendy’s “new natural-cut fries with sea salt” use Russet Burbank potatoes and are thinner and crisper than the current fries and will be unpeeled.
The idea is to provide an alternative to McDonald’s, which has long been the leader in French fry sales. The Wendy’s campaign includes two television spots that will run on cable and network stations such as TBS, VH1 and Bravo and during shows such as “Conan” and “Lopez Tonight.” The campaign includes two radio commercials that will air nationally, as well as billboards around the country to entice people to select Wendy’s when they get hungry.
The digital campaign includes the use of the Wendy’s Web site, a Twitter account, a Facebook fan page and digital banner ads. The company’s YouTube channel will feature an ad for the fries and the background of the Wendy’s Twitter account page will also feature art for the fries and a “Fry for All” app that lets users select a box of fries that they can post on their Facebook page so they can “share” fries with their friends. The idea of sharing is central to the campaign. “When something is really good, you don’t necessarily want to share it so easily,” said the chief executive and CEO of Wendy’s agency of record.
Edit by AMW
* * * * *
Full Article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/22/business/media/22wendys.html?ref=media
* * * * *
TakeAway: Sometimes to beat the competition, you have to be more like the competition.
To better compete with the $18 billion dollar salty snack food industry, a cooperative of baby carrot growers is launching a $25 million dollar advertising campaign, coupled with new packaging to mimic Doritos and other salty snacks.
While effective promotions can create an illusion that a product delivers desired benefits, if the product cannot deliver those benefits consumers are likely to reject the product eventually.
Kids choose salty snacks from vending machines because they like the taste.
However, recent studies have shown that kids believe foods packaged with cartoon characters taste better than the same foods with boring packaging.
It should be interesting to see if kids start to believe that these newly packaged carrots taste better than regular carrots. Regardless though, given the choice most kids would probably still choose salty snacks over baby carrots.
* * * * *
Excerpted from brandchannel, “Baby Carrots: The Original Orange Doodle,” by Sheila Shayon, August 31, 2010
As America’s nutritionally-challenged youth head back to school, an initiative … is taking on the junk food industry with a killer snack food alternative – carrots. Baby carrots actually. In this corner – the $18 billion dollar salty snack food industry; and in this corner – the $1 billion dollar baby carrot world …
Spending some $25 million dollars … baby carrots will be packaged like Doritos, with three design choices (check them … at the campaign’s website, babycarrots.com); sold in school vending machines (already being tested in Syracuse and Cincinnati); kid-skewing slogans (“Eat ’em like junk food,” “The original orange doodles”); a mobile app featuring a crunch-powered game, now available for free download on iTunes; seasonal tie-ins such as Halloween ‘scarrots;’ a Facebook page; and TV spots that aim to portray baby carrots as hip and sexy …
… “It’s not an anti-junk-food campaign. It takes a page out of junk food’s playbook and applies it to baby carrots,” comments Jeff Dunn, Bolthouse Farms CEO and former president of Coca-Cola North America …
Can branding baby carrots as junk food really woo kids away from salty, unhealthy, high caloric snacks?
As Fast Company blogger Ariel Schwartz writes, good luck tricking kids into thinking carrots are Cheetos or Doritos, while The Atlantic‘s Derek Thompson points out that kids’ marketers have ingrained some tough-to-beat traits: “according to a recent study, most children say food packaged with cartoon characters tastes better than the same food in a boring wrapper. Seventy percent of what we taste is smell. For kids, half of what they taste is sight. Image matters, and it’s smart and overdue for veggie and fruit producers to advertise creatively.”
All the more reason why carrot growers are paying good money in the hopes that that kids can be won over…
Edit by DMG
* * * * *
Full Article
http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2010/08/31/Baby-Carrots-The-Original-Orange-Doodle.aspx#continue
* * * * *
Takeaway: Restaurants are increasingly using various sauces and dips to provide customers with the ability to construct their own flavor profiles built around existing menu items.
This modular approach creates customized options without a large incremental increase in cost or delivery time.
Particularly for Generation Y – the “customize-me” generation – sauces and dips are a point of entry, whereas older consumers simply see them as increments.
However, to ensure new flavors don’t fizzle out, research and testing are crucial to avoid excess product on hand.
One constant? Chicken is the most popular core product for sauces and dips at quick-service and fast-casual restaurants.
* * * * *
Excerpted from QSRMagazine.com, “One Sauce Doesn’t Fit All” By Barney Wolf, August 2010
Using ketchup to dip or slather french fries is a long-established American tradition. The pairing has not only provided consumers with a distinct flavor, but it has given diners the ability to choose how much of the condiment to use, based on their own tastes.
Mass customization allows customers to be involved in making decisions regarding the design of an end product, often by using technology or flexible manufacturing processes.
One early example was Burger King, whose “Have It Your Way” campaign was used to differentiate itself from McDonald’s, the biggest mass burger operator at the time.
In the late 1970s, McDonald’s was looking for ways to provide consumers with wider choices as a change of pace. He came up with the idea of fried chicken nuggets with dipping sauce. Mickey D tried more than 100 sauce ideas until barbecue, sweet and sour, and hot mustard sauces were selected. The product, Chicken McNuggets, and its dips in prepackaged cups, went into tests in 1979 and were added to the national menu in 1983.
Sauces have played a valuable role in cuisine for centuries.
In the classical brigade-style kitchen, modernized by noted French chef Auguste Escoffier, the saucier is third in rank behind only the chef de cuisine and sous chef.
Modern sauces have their roots in the classics, Even mayonnaise, which we call a dressing, is classically considered a sauce. Mustard goes back to Roman times, and American ketchup was once dubbed a “table sauce.”
The growing interest in international and ethnic cuisine—thanks to media, immigration, and the ease of international travel—combined with bold, ethnic cooking by creative chefs bring many more sauces and dips to the attention of consumers.
Edit by AMW
* * * * *
Full Article:
http://www.qsrmagazine.com/articles/features/144/sauce-4.phtml
* * * * *
The Center for Science in the Public Interest puts out an annual ranking of unhealthy (i.e. really good tasting) restaurant dishes.
Reads like they just shadow the Homa family around for awhile.
I may submit a job app – imagine getting paid for scarfing this stuff.
* * * * *
NutritionAction CSPI: Xtreme Eating 2010 , June 2010
2010 Xtreme Eating Awards
Five Guys Bacon Cheeseburger: A Five Guys Bacon Cheeseburger has 920 calories and 30 grams of saturated fat (1½ days’ worth) without toppings. Think two Quarter Pounders. And how many Five Guys patrons eat a burger without fries or a drink? Add 620 calories for the regular fries .
The Cheesecake Factory’s Chocolate Tower Trouble Cake. A tower of any food is rarely a good idea. If it weren’t served on its side, this one would stand over six inches tall. And upright or not, the slab of cake still weighs in at threequarters of a pound. What do you get for all that heft? Just 1,670 calories and 2½ days’ worth of saturated fat (48 grams.
California Pizza Kitchen Tostada Pizza with Steak: The (individual-size) Tostada Pizza brings 1,440 calories and more than a day’s saturated fat (27 grams) and sodium (2,630 mg) to each diner. The crust alone supplies some 400 calories’ worth of flour (about 1 cup). With grilled steak the pizza has 1,680 calories, 32 grams of sat fat, and 3,300 mg of sodium.
The Cheesecake Factory’s Pasta Carbonara: A serving of Pasta Carbonara with Chicken has 2,500 calories and 85 grams of sat fat (more than a four-day supply).
P.F. Chang’s Double Pan-Fried Noodles Combo: the Double Pan-Fried Noodles Combo delivers an off-the-charts 7,690 milligrams of sodium. That’s 3 teaspoons of salt—a five-day supply, and double the outrageous levels in Chang’s lo meins.
Outback Steakhouse New Zealand Rack of Lamb: The total damage from the lamb-plus-sides: 1,820 calories, 80 grams of sat fat, and 2,600 mg of sodium. If you’re on a diet, consider Outback’s 16 oz. Prime Rib instead. With the same sides, it’s a steal at “only” 1,580 calories, 57 grams of sat fat, and 2,240 mg of sodium.
Chevys Crab & Shrimp Quesadilla: the platter packs 1,790 calories and 63 grams of saturated fat plus 3,440 mg of sodium. Ay caramba!
California Pizza Kitchen Pesto Cream Penne: before you add any chicken or shrimp — it hides 1,350 calories, 49 grams of saturated fat, and 1,920 mg of sodium. That’s essentially what you’d get in a plate of fettuccine Alfredo, which we dubbed a “heart attack on a plate” in 1994.
Bob Evans Cinnamon Cream Stacked & Stuffed Hotcakes: a stack of three ordinary hotcakes that will add around 1,000 calories’ worth of white flour to your midsection, with a bonus 3 to 9 grams of trans fat (1½ to 4½ days’ worth) and 6 to 12 grams of saturated fat for your heart. And you can pump up the calories on your own by adding syrup (every ¼ cup—just 4 tablespoons— adds 200 calories). Take two pancakes and stuff them with either good stuff (like blueberries or bananas) or garbage (like cinnamon chips made of sugar and oil). Then add a layer of vanilla cream cheese (it’s more like cream than cheese) and a sugary topping (like cinnamon cream), with whipped topping as the coup de grease. Voila! Bob Evans Cinnamon Cream Stacked & Stuffed Hotcakes — bumps up the calories to 1,380, the bad fat to 27 grams of saturated plus 7 grams of trans, and the sugar to 27 teaspoons.
Source article:
http://www.cspinet.org/nah/articles/xtremeeating2010.html
profkenhoma 