Articles & Insights

How the F&B industry actually runs, evolves, and grows.

Original analysis and curated reads with an editor's take — the operations, market shifts, technology bets, and people decisions shaping food service.

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How AI Is Helping QSRs Improve Promotional Execution During Peak Traffic Seasons

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How AI Is Helping QSRs Improve Promotional Execution During Peak Traffic Seasons

This story was originally published on QSR. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily QSR AM Jolt.Peak seasons are unforgiving for all QSRs.

via QSR Magazine·Jul 27, 2026

How Restaurants Can Win in the Age of GLP-1s

This story was originally published on QSR. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily QSR AM Jolt.Consumers on GLP-1s have made a clear choice: They're improving their health. The number of GLP-1 users in the U.K.

via QSR Magazine·Jul 21, 2026·5 min

How a TCBY Franchisee Uses Nostalgia, Community, and Catering to Power Growth

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How a TCBY Franchisee Uses Nostalgia, Community, and Catering to Power Growth

This story was originally published on QSR. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily QSR AM Jolt.TCBY franchisee Steve Walsh knows the importance of being part of a community. For Steve Walsh, the next stage of growth for his TCBY story lies in catering.

via QSR Magazine·Jul 20, 2026·6 min

How Operators Can Build Unit Economics That Survive Multi-Unit Scale

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How Operators Can Build Unit Economics That Survive Multi-Unit Scale

This story was originally published on QSR. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily QSR AM Jolt.Expansion should not be driven solely by momentum; it should be authorized by structure.

via QSR Magazine·Jul 15, 2026·7 min

When Legal Labor Pathways Get Murky, Restaurant Staffing Gets Harder

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When Legal Labor Pathways Get Murky, Restaurant Staffing Gets Harder

Operators face an uncertain future around legal staffing requirements. Uncertainty in the full-service restaurant world is like butter in a French kitchen. It’s built into nearly everything. Demand rises and falls with consumer confidence. Labor costs shift as the market shifts.

via FSR Magazine·Jul 7, 2026·5 min

Franchising Power Hour: What Every Operator Should Know About Building Leaders and Restaurants

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Franchising Power Hour: What Every Operator Should Know About Building Leaders and Restaurants

Every franchisee has a story that never makes it into a conference keynote. It’s the difficult hiring decision that changed a leadership philosophy. The operational mistake that became a turning point. The conversation with a mentor that reshaped an entire career.

via QSR Magazine·Jul 7, 2026·3 min

Why AI Scheduling Has Become a Restaurant Necessity

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Why AI Scheduling Has Become a Restaurant Necessity

Manager’s workload has been designed in a way that frequently drains people and leads to churn. Here’s a disheartening stat: Harri data shows restaurant managers are losing eight to 10 hours a week to scheduling and administrative work. That’s basically a full workday every week.

via QSR Magazine·Jul 6, 2026·4 min

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Skyline Essentials Launches AI Forecasting Platform for Restaurant Operators

Skyline Essentials™ today announced the launch of the SkAI® Predictive Suite for Restaurants, an AI-powered forecasting platform that gives independent operators and multi-unit groups the same data-science edge the national chains have built in-house for years.

via FSR Magazine·Jul 1, 2026·3 min

How Restaurant Brands Can Navigate the Beverage Race

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How Restaurant Brands Can Navigate the Beverage Race

The common thread is the operator insight: beverage at scale requires equipment, process, training, and labor models that existing kitchens cannot absorb easily.

via FSR Magazine·Jun 29, 2026·8 min

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Why QSR Loyalty Needs a Reset in a K-shaped Economy

The most useful AI applications in QSR loyalty today are not aggressive personalization engines. They are tools that remove effort from the customer’s day. McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski put it bluntly on the Q1 2026 earnings call.

via QSR Magazine·Jun 29, 2026·5 min

The 30-Day Reporting Gap Restaurants Can’t Afford

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The 30-Day Reporting Gap Restaurants Can’t Afford

Multi-unit operators can’t afford delayed operational visibility anymore. Restaurant operators are used to volatility. MarginEdge data shows that Tomato prices, for example, spiked 51 percent in April compared to March and are up 127 percent since January of this year.

via QSR Magazine·Jun 29, 2026·5 min

How AI Is Rewiring The Consumer Growth Stack Across India’s B2C Economy

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How AI Is Rewiring The Consumer Growth Stack Across India’s B2C Economy

John Wanamaker, one of the biggest retailers of the 1900s, once said, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. The trouble is, I don’t know which half.” And marketers held this as an absolute for a hundred years. But the truth is, it wasn’t just a marketing problem.

via Inc42·Jun 29, 2026·6 min

The Skills AI Can’t Steal, and Why Restaurants Matter More Than Ever

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The Skills AI Can’t Steal, and Why Restaurants Matter More Than Ever

There is no environment quite like a busy restaurant for immersing someone quickly and completely in human interaction.

via QSR Magazine·Jun 26, 2026·5 min

What Experienced Restaurant Franchisees Should Evaluate Before Expanding

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What Experienced Restaurant Franchisees Should Evaluate Before Expanding

Marco's Pizza is one of the largest pizza chains in America. Typically, for multi-unit franchisees, scalability is not a question of if but rather a question of how. Once a strong foundation is built with a single brand, diversification often is the next logistical step.

via QSR Magazine·Jun 25, 2026·5 min

The ‘Little to No Breathing Room’ Reality for Restaurants

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The ‘Little to No Breathing Room’ Reality for Restaurants

Many restaurants are profitable in theory, but cash-constrained in reality because, while they are generating revenue, that money is immediately reinvested in day-to-day operations, according to a new study by Clarify Capital.

via Modern Restaurant Management·Jun 24, 2026·4 min

What the Modern Steakhouse Looks Like in a Post-Pandemic Dining Era

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What the Modern Steakhouse Looks Like in a Post-Pandemic Dining Era

Steakhouses have long occupied a distinct place in restaurant culture. For decades, these establishments represented celebration, business dining, and occasion-driven hospitality.

via FSR Magazine·Jun 23, 2026·5 min

The Hidden Cost of Manager Burnout Starts With the Schedule

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The Hidden Cost of Manager Burnout Starts With the Schedule

How much manager burnout is actually being created by the systems and processes managers are forced to work with every day? Restaurant leaders spend enormous amounts of time talking about manager burnout.

via FSR Magazine·Jun 23, 2026·5 min

Value for Restaurants is an Economics Discipline, Not a Coupon Strategy

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Value for Restaurants is an Economics Discipline, Not a Coupon Strategy

When McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said publicly that combo meals priced above $10 were damaging value perception, it forced the company to lean into value meals to restore traffic. That is the kind of structural fix that comes after value perception has already eroded.

via QSR Magazine·Jun 23, 2026·5 min