In Focus

The NPD Group has revealed how Casual Dining contributes to an increasing proportion of Foodservice traffic - accounting now for 4% of all visits. Although still quite small, their traffic has grown by 29% since 2009. Casual Dining now equates to 441 million visits in the year ending September 2015. Fiscally, Casual Dining generates 4.4 billion pounds to the Foodservice Industry. This channel has a much higher average ticket (£9.92) than QSR (£3.63).

The NPD Group has identified five key foodservice industry trends to watch out for in 2016, and what the winners will be doing to stay ahead of the pack.

QSR Media's Year in Review takes a look at some of the themes we have seen this year. Here is our summary of some of the significant trends of 2015.

Whether they be industry stalwarts or newer, start-up concepts, we take a look at some of Australia’s top QSR concepts, and what sets them apart.

The NPD Group has revealed how Breakfast contributes to an increasing proportion of QSR traffic - accounting now for 11% of all visits. Although still small, it has been growing its traffic by almost a third in the last 5 years. In real terms, breakfast now equates to 640 million visits in the year ending September 2015. Fiscally, breakfast generates 2 billion pounds to the QSR channel.

Tackling waste is coming under renewed focus by QSRs, most recently with KFC's announcement of their plans to reduce their food waste to just 1.6% by 2017. QSR Media spoke with Janet Cox, Head of Health, Safety and Environment at KFC UK & Ireland to learn more about how they are going about it.

It has been a busy year for Abokado, with four stores being opened since March and plans to bring their total number of outlets to 30 by March- all without moving out of central London. We caught up with Founder Mark Lilley to find out how they do it, what is next in store for the healthy food chain and their take on the major issues affecting the industry.

Signalling their intent with a new grab and go offering, we spoke to Muffin Break General Manager Lisa Brook about what is in store for the Group.

Data from the NPD Group has revealed that the number of servings of Alcohol in the out-of-home market is in long-term decline, falling by 23% between YE June 2010 and YE June 2015. This equates to 330 million fewer servings of Alcohol.

Having recently completed funding their 'pie bond', Square Pie is set to expand both their retail and wholesale presence. We sat down with Founder Martin Dewey to learn more about the campaign, their plans and what's proving popular on their menu (and what not) as the Rugby World Cup draws to a close.

Latest research from NPD shows just what differentiates millennial traffic from that of the average consumer.

With their recent announcment that they had opened an outlet in Tokyo, we spoke with Asher Budwig, Managing Director of Lola's Cupcakes about his plans for the brand.

With nearly two decades of experience in the restaurant and bar industry, Ed Martin has now set his sights on the QSR sector with the Asian inspired Yum Som set to open in the city of London later this month.

Following the recent opening of Dunkin' Donuts first express store in the UK, we spoke with Jim Johnstone, Managing Director of Dunkin' Brands UK & Ireland about the group's plans for the UK.

Neds Noodle Bar recently announced its plans to upscale the business through franchising, and appointed Fransmart to help them through the process.

Following the recent opening of their first central London location in Baker Street, we spoke with Dunkin' Donuts franchisee Ketan Patel from DDMG Ltd about their plans for new store openings and how Dunkin' Donuts is expanding its offering to take market share from competitors.