At this month's Olympic games, McDonald's — the official restaurant sponsor of London 2012 — is welcoming the world's biggest set of Golden Arches at its 1,500-seat pop-up restaurant in Olympic Park, and the chain has just revealed its world-class menu for the venue.
Read ahead to see the McDonald's Olympics menu.
Milk's favorite cookie has a new pair of friends.
Beginning today, Oreo is teaming up with both Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins to offer a new line of menu items inspired by the creme-filled cookie.
The Kraft Foods cookie, which turns 100 this year, will play a starring role in two Dunkin' Donuts doughnut flavors (Oreo Donut and Oreo Crumble Donut) as well as two drink flavors (Coffee Oreo Coolatta and Vanilla Bean Coolatta). Baskin-Robbins customers will see the cookie in a flavor-of-the-month Oreo-flavored chocolate ice cream, Oreo ice cream cake bites, a soft serve mix, and a layered chocolate sundae.
Oreo's collaborations with Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins are hot on the heels of Nestlé's new rollout of Girl Scout Cookie-flavored Crunch bars. The candy bars inspired by favorite Girl Scout cookie flavors have been so popular that they're expected to sell out by September, and it's hard to imagine the beloved Oreo cookie not experiencing the same success. Does the future hold more food collaborations like these? All signs point to yes.
Source: Dunkin' Donuts
Looks like Starbucks and McDonald's aren't the only two chains who want a piece of breakfast between bread: starting this week, Dunkin' Donuts introduces two new sandwich offerings, to be offered at DD locations throughout the day — including breakfast, of course.
The new sandwiches will "be familiar, but with a twist," said Stan Frankenthaler, Dunkin' Brands' executive chef and head of product innovation. The Ham & Cheese Bakery Sandwich contains Black Forest ham, white cheddar, and a creamy dijon mustard sauce; Turkey, Cheddar, & Bacon is made with turkey, white cheddar, bacon, and ancho chipotle sauce. Both are made to order on a croissant, bagel, or the new baked-fresh-daily French roll.
The announcement of these all-day sandwiches arrives just as Taco Bell rolls out its First Meal menu of breakfast items. Still, Dunkin' is quick to explain what differentiates the brand's ham and bacon sandwiches from similar breakfast sandwich offerings already on the market. "We think our bakery leadership is a real differentiator in our brand," Frankenthaler told us. "Our guests already know us and love us for our fresh bagels (we're the number one retailer of bagels in the United States) and croissants."
Providing all-day options is "extremely important for Dunkin’ Donuts," he added. "Breakfast sandwiches are popular with our guests, and they like the flexibility to enjoy them throughout the day."
With first Taco Bell and now Dunkin' Donuts taking the mornings to another level, it's clear that the fast-food AM wars won't be letting up anytime soon. Will you try a new sandwich from Dunkin' Donuts?
Like condiments, french fries are ripe for a makeover.
Just ask the top fast food chains: in the past year, Jack in the Box has overhauled its fries to mimic those at McDonald's, and Wendy's has announced that its new fries are actually better than those from the Golden Arches. The latest chain to jump on the french fry reformulation bandwagon? None other than Burger King.
The number two fast-feeder — who's recently been rumored to be at risk of losing its top spot to Wendy's — is hoping the Dec. 5 debut of its newfangled pommes frites will reclaim a piece of the fried potato market.
According to BK, the new fries will be fluffier and have a better potato flavor on the inside and a "crispy, golden-brown deliciousness" on the outside. Burger King hopes to prove its french fry cred to customers come Dec. 16, when it'll be offering free small fries to everyone, no purchase necessary.
I'll be checking out the new fries, as I'm curious to see whether Burger King's given priority to the quality of its ingredients. In your opinion, do any of these french fry reformulations actually make a difference?
Krispy Kreme's late to joining the fast food breakfast wars, but that doesn't mean they aren't going to try. After years of floundering sales, the doughnut chain's launched a new business plan, and things are finally looking up.
Hot off the heels that its fiscal performance is up, Krispy Kreme's announced it's getting into the java business, with three new signature coffees: a house blend, a dark roast, and house decaf. It's also debuted a trendy line of doughnuts for London Fashion Week, a so-called "capsule collection . . . of glossy, stylish, and fruity-flavored doughnuts for fashion lovers everywhere." It's expanding rapidly in Mexico and Japan, and will launch a new marketing campaign this Friday with the tagline "worthy of our doughnuts."
It'll be interesting to see how Krispy Kreme fares in such a competitive breakfast environment, especially since it has a track record of being late to the game with new products. Does Krispy Kreme have what it takes to make a comeback?
Chipotle's furthering its quest to create a more sustainable fast food system. Today the quickservice chain unveiled its new nonprofit organization, the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation, to help support sustainable food practices. It's also debuted a short animated film, which will air prior to feature films in theaters nationwide.
The spot, titled "Back to the Start," is about a fictional farmer's venture into industrial farming practices and his eventual return to a more sustainable way of life. For the short, Chipotle commissioned Willie Nelson to sing Coldplay's "The Scientist." The cover song is available for download on iTunes, with proceeds going to the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation.
The new foundation plans to support organizations for family farms, food education for younger generations, and ranchers and farmers who are working on more sustainable practices. Chipotle will host a free music, art, and food day in Chicago called "Cultivate Chicago," with chefs Michael Chiarello, Richard Blais, Jonathan Waxman, and Amanda Freitag cooking and speaking. Similar events in other US cities will follow.
It's encouraging to see such a large food company setting an example for double bottom line investments; hopefully other fast food chains will take note and follow suit with similar social responsibility initiatives. I'd love to hear more about how the organization will support sustainability, though. What do you think of Chipotle's high-priority initiative? Would you attend a Cultivate event in your city?
Last week, the quick-service industry was buzzing with speculation about In-N-Out Burger: based on the comments of at least one insider, In-N-Out may finally be expanding to the Southwestern part of the country.
Regardless of what the California burger chain has in store, it's undeniable that there's plenty of growth in fast-casual chains right now. While traditional fast-food companies like Burger King are struggling, a number of smaller, newer chains are blowing up across the country. Here are a five eateries to watch out for.
We were just pondering the next big health food trend — and perhaps one to consider is oatmeal, bearing in mind the pivotal role it's taken on as the star of morning menus at Starbucks, Jamba Juice, McDonald's, and other fast food chains.
Oatmeal's looking like the big cash cow in fast food's breakfast wars. The latest big chain on the oatmeal breakfast train? Burger King, which debuted its whole grain breakfast offering Monday. BK's customers can choose from either the chain's original or fruit-topped maple oatmeal for $1.99 — the exact same price as the pictured oats from McDonald's.
It remains to be seen whether wholesome offerings like oatmeal will help Burger King improve its flagging sales. What do you think?
Soon we may have an answer to the question all burger enthusiasts outside of the West have been wondering: will In-N-Out Burger finally expand to the rest of the country? Now that In-N-Out's opened up a distribution center and several locations in Texas, it's possible that nearby states could soon follow suit. According to the chain's Fort Worth economic development manager, the company is considering expanding to neighboring states.
To maintain freshness and quality, In-N-Out has long held a policy of opening new locations that are within 500 miles of its distribution center in Southern California's Baldwin Park. Now that there's a second distribution hub in Dallas, its track record of opening past locations could support expansion to more than a dozen states, including Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas. How would you feel about a new In-N-Out near you?
Source: Flickr User Aaron Friedman
