Photo by shen wenjie on Unsplash
Seasonal Frenzy Reshapes Fast-Casual
Holiday-driven menu drops fuse nostalgia with wellness, turning menus into living calendars for fast-casual brands.
Apr 28, 2026
Photo by shen wenjie on Unsplash
Holiday-driven menu drops fuse nostalgia with wellness, turning menus into living calendars for fast-casual brands.
Apr 28, 2026
Photo by Abdul Raheem Kannath on Unsplash
Susannah Frost named Chick-fil-A President, joining Cliff Robinson as COO to guide domestic expansion and international growth.
Apr 28, 2026
Photo by Moon Bhuyan on Unsplash
Ghost pepper-led promotions redefine autumn menus as chains blend heat, storytelling, and seasonal collaborations to drive foot traffic.
Apr 28, 2026
Photo by Noah Martinez on Unsplash
CAVA rolls out Garlic Ranch Pita Chips with a Steak + Harissa Bowl and a refreshed Rewards program, tying flavor innovation to personalized guest experiences.
Apr 28, 2026
Photo by Kate Trysh on Unsplash
Applebee’s launches Pick 6 Mondays, offering free wings with a $10 purchase when a Pick 6 occurs on Sundays, driving game-day momentum across dine-in and To Go.
Apr 28, 2026
Photo by Stu Moffat on Unsplash
Beatrice Nguyen explores how leadership blends speed, loyalty, and standardized operations to grow Shake Shack while preserving its signature experience.
Apr 28, 2026
Photo by tommao wang on Unsplash
Freddy’s expands with a 23,000-sq-ft Training & Innovation Center to boost franchise profitability and unit growth toward 800+ by 2026.
Apr 28, 2026
Photo by Shourav Sheikh on Unsplash
Chapter 11 roils EYM’s Pizza Hut footprint, with auctions and asset sales reordering stores across IL, WI, IN, GA, and SC.
Apr 28, 2026
Photo by Adolfo Félix on Unsplash
How AI-enabled training, robotics, and crypto rewards are reshaping guest experience and workforce in modern restaurants.
Apr 28, 2026
Photo by Meghan Rodgers on Unsplash
Candace Nelson headlines CREATE 2024 in Nashville, sharing her journey from finance to Sprinkles and Pizzana, with practical roadmaps for growth-minded restaurateurs.
Apr 28, 2026
Ziggi’s taps Betsy Hamm to drive a disciplined national expansion, pairing founder-led leadership with structured growth and enhanced guest and team experiences.
Photo by Ruben Ramirez on Unsplash
Ziggi’s Coffee has tapped a familiar face to guide its next phase of growth. In a move designed to shift from a regional footprint toward a national, multi-market expansion, Betsy Hamm has been named fractional chief operating officer to steer the effort. The arrangement signals a readiness to balance speed with cultural continuity, drawing on Hamm’s founder-led playbook to translate early wins into scalable, sustainable growth. She joins Brandon Knudsen and Camrin Knudsen on a leadership team positioned to push into markets where drive-thru coffee remains intensely competitive. The framework speaks to a longer growth trajectory that is data-informed and people-centered, a combination that feels poised to set the stage for what follows.
The move signals a deliberate shift from regional momentum to a scalable, multi-market push. Ziggi’s describes its 117-unit drive-thru concept as the scaffold for rapid expansion, and early 2024 projections suggested the brand would surpass 100 locations by August 2024. In the first quarter, the company celebrated seven grand openings and nine franchise signings, with plans for more than fifty openings by year-end. By 2026, Ziggi’s marks a decade of franchising, signaling a new phase of professionalized growth. Hamm’s appointment is framed as a catalyst: a leadership realignment designed to bring structure, disciplined execution, and analytics‑driven decision-making to a fast-moving growth cycle, while preserving the brand’s culture-forward identity.