UK

The chicken chain introduced a new design for city centre restaurants; following the opening of its new restaurant on Newcastle's Northumberland Street.

Muffin Break announced that it is supporting UK Coffee Week, with 5p from every coffee sold at its UK stores between 11th and 17th April going towards supporting clean water projects in coffee growing communities.

Matcha and Japanese food brand Tombo announced the opening of their contemporary Japanese café in the heart of Soho this May.

New research by Guest Experience Management experts, HospitalityGEM, revealed that indulgent dining is predominantly seen as an off-peak activity, with a huge 91% of diners choosing to be sinful at the weekend and 83% saintly during the week. However, only 62% when would be saintly when at work, implying before and after work were the times to be healthy.

The brand launched the American Smokey special wrap across all its shops nationwide.

The brand unveiled its new LEON Spring menu, with the theme 'The Power of Plants'.

Data released by LDC and British Independent Retailers Association (bira) showed that independents opened the fewest number of shops in Britain’s top 500 town centres since LDC records began in 2009. Independent shops saw an increase of just +117 shops (+0.11%) in 2015 versus a peak of growth of 4.01% (+3,949 shops) in 2010.

The burger brand launched the Angriest Whopper, a sandwich with hot sauce baked into the red bun.

The coffee shop chain revealed that 55% of its staff are under 25 and will continue to benefit from the National Living Wage pay increase.

Dining data from Bookatable’s Quarterly Dining Trends report revealed that British cuisine is booming.

New research by Guest Experience Management experts, HospitalityGEM, has today revealed a gap in the market for ‘Active Dining’. The trend follows recent openings in New York where Spin & Gin and Dates with Weights have successfully blended exercise work outs with dining. The trend is now set to take off in the UK with 95% of diners stating they would eat out more often if restaurants had exercise facilities available on site. In a recent survey of mystery diners 64% revealed they would choose to eat and exercise simultaneously, whereas 44% stated they would prefer to use the exercise equipment between courses to burn off fat from the previous course. The most popular time of day for Active Dining is lunchtime (61%) and early afternoon (29%). Post-main course was identified as the prime time for exercising, with 72% stating this was when they felt most lethargic and would look to exercise. Hands-free exercise machines, such as treadmills, proved to be the most popular (74%) and the more labour intensive, such as rowing machines were least popular (13%). Popular foods whilst exercising were smaller lighter bites, with the trend for street food (47%) and premium tacos (39%) coming out on top. Some diners would be interested in taking this trend further, stating: “I tried it once in Florida, and found it was easier to be spoon-fed by the staff than to feed myself”. This would allow diners to use more equipment such as a cross-trainer whilst dining. When asked why diners would opt for this form of eating out, one diner commented: “I never visit the gym because I get too hungry, but this would solve the problem and make exercise more social”. Steven Pike, Managing Director of HospitalityGEM commented: “I have seen some amazing trends enter the UK eating out market in recent years which have come and gone, but this is one that I predict sticking around for a long time. The average person in the UK is constantly juggling work, keeping fit, as well as fitting in a social life, meaning it is often hard to keep up – so why not blend all three activities into one. I recently spent some time in New York and it is easy to see why this concept has taken off.”  

Hummus Bros launched its sixth London site on Eastcheap, a short walk from the Walkie Talkie building.

According to a story by the Telegraph, the gourmet burger brand reported pre-tax profits falling 1.6pc to £5.5m for the year to June 28, 2015 as it invested in new store openings.

Here's what the QSRs were up to on social media last week.

Esquires Coffee launched two new flavours to their ‘veggie smoothie’ range, the Beetroot Berry and Carrot Crush.

Pret A Manger opened the doors to its first shop in the UAE, in the exciting new Concourse D development at Dubai International.