1. BURGER KING’S BACON BONANZA

McDonald’s kicked off the year with its Cheesy Bacon Flatbread, now Burger King is launching the limited edition ‘Bacon King’ which contains 8 slices of bacon – two slices more than the US version and described as an entire pack of bacon – for a premium £7.69.  Accompanying the eight slices of bacon are two beef patties, four slices of American cheese, ketchup and mayo to satisfy hungry appetites.

2. TRADE SHOW SEASON IN FULL SWING   

Internorga finished up on Tuesday while the Sandwich and Snack Show in Paris is fast approaching, less than 3 weeks away. The Sandwich and Snack Show, the leading European foodservice show for food-to-go and snacking, takes place on the 4th & 5th April. However, it is not just foodservice events that we are excited about with Marketplace and PLMA happening also taking place this April. For a full calendar of tradeshows and events for 2018 click here >>

3. CARREFOUR INVESTS IN FOODTECH

The world’s 2nd largest retailer, Carrefour has acquired the majority stake in Quitoque, a subscription-based meal kit delivery firm. Established in 2014, Quitoque delivers almost 3 million meals throughout France. This forms part of Carrefour’s omnichannel strategy, enabling it to respond to new consumer lifestyle habits, while for Quitoque it represents a considerable opportunity to scale up. Recent forecast by IGD estimates the European grocery retail market will be worth €2,289bn by 2022 with growth in the region driven by Central and Eastern Europe (CAGR of 3.7% 2017-22). Turkey, Russia and the UK are in the driving seat, with Europe as a whole accounting for 16% of global grocery retail sales growth.

4. MILLENNIALS OVERTAKE BABY BOOMERS 

Making up almost a quarter of the UK population, Millennials will have more spending power than Baby Boomers in 2018. They are the largest living generation and are truly digital natives, valuing convenience and accessibility even more than previous generations. With this in mind, just how do food chains capture that spend and become more convenient to these Millennials? Digital experts Preoday recommend improving online accessibility, introducing pre-ordering systems and personalising the experience via relevant deals and ‘push’ notifications.

5. FAST-GROWING MOD

US-based fast casual chain MOD (Made On Demand) Pizza finished 2017 with a 5.2% growth in same-store sales and reported that system-wide sales grew 81% to $275 million.  It was also the second year in a row that they grew their store growth by over 100 stores bringing their total MOD store count to 302 across the USA/UK.  Founded in 2008, the ‘MOD Bosses’ who wanted to bring customization to the category by offering over 30 toppings for a set price. As well as organic growth, the company credits “creating positive social change” through initiatives likes community outreach programs as its reason for success – check out its MODness campaign >>

6. SUB OF THE DAY IS BACK

Subway has relaunched ‘Sub of the Day’ in the UK meaning customers can bag the value ‘Sub of the Day’ six- inch for just £2.49. Subway have added new and original fillings to the deal, offering a new option each day. The new concepts include Mango Chicken Tikka (Tuesday), Meat Feast (Weds), Pepperoni Pizza (Sat), and Savoury Cheese (Mon).

7. RUSTLERS BREAKFAST BARGAIN

Rustlers is taking on the food-to-go breakfast market with the launch of its new Rustlers All Day Breakfast Sausage Muffin, priced at £1.50. The new microwavable breakfast product features a sausage patty in a muffin bun, topped with cheese and tomato ketchup. This follows the launch in 2017 of Rustlers Gourmet Burger range, topped with bacon, cheese and mustard. According to the manufacturer Kepak, the UK’s micro-snacking category is valued at more than £120m with one in five households now buying into the category.

8. WASABI RAMPS IT UP

Established in 2003, Japanese fast food chain Wasabi has recently secured new investment to fund its London expansion as well as improve operational efficiencies. It currently offers authentic, handmade Japanese Sushi and Bento across the UK (43 in London, 8 nationwide, 2 in New York) and plans to launch its Japanese and Korean bakery brand Soboro this year. Supermarket sales alone of prepacked sushi are £104mn in the UK and it’s growing fast (18% in 2017, IRI). Counter concept Sushi Daily is available in 70 Waitrose stores and 8 Sainsbury stores.

9. WHAT’S DRIVING TESLA & KRISPY KREME?

Drive through concepts have made the headlines this week. From Krispy Kreme opening its first store in Dublin, Ireland to Tesla’s plans to build a retro ‘carhop’ – a drive-in restaurant – with a built-in charging station for electric cars in Los Angeles.  Tesla is building feedback that consumers want something to do while charging their electric vehicles (up to 75 minutes) – so as well as food via a pop-up menu delivered by staff on roller skates, it plans to offer drive-in movies. While Public Health England dominated the headlines, Krispy Kreme announced a new drive-through factory