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Well, well. McDonald’s will begin selling bagged ground coffee under the McCafé brand at the majority its 1,400 restaurants in Canada beginning g Nov. 8. This comes just weeks after BurgerBusiness.com’s exclusive report that McDonald’s had trademarked its name for ground/whole-bean coffee. Our inquiry to McDonald’s was dismissed with, “We register a lot of trademarks. [...]

Burger King Worldwide announced a coffee deal for its Latin America/Caribbean (LAC) division, naming Nestlé Professional the preferred supplier for a new specialty-coffee menu coming to those markets. The deal covers not only Nestlé’s soluble—i.e. instant—coffee but also the company’s coffee equipment. Burger King restaurants in LAC markets will use Nestlé Professional’s Nescafé Milano platform, [...]

The Wendy’s Company announced that in March 2013 a new version of its logo will be introduced on packaging, advertising, crew uniforms, restaurant signage, menuboards and websites. The iconic Wendy character (modeled on founder Dave Thomas’s daughter) remains but with an updated look. This is part of a larger brand transformation being directed by Craig [...]

Coffee is a $2 billion-plus business for McDonald’s in the U.S., but the chain is signaling an interest in following Dunkin’ Donuts, Tim Hortons and others into the coffee-retailing business. On Sept. 18, 2012, a U.S. trademark registration was filed for the McDonald’s name specifically covering ground and whole-bean coffee. Asked for comment on the [...]

Ever the contrarian, CKE Restaurants CEO Andy Puzder thumbed his nose at most burger-chain trends as he vowed to keep Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s selling indulgent burgers to “young, hungry guys.” Specialty coffees like McCafé offers or frappés like Burger King has added? Nah. Puzder said he’s not interested in the “more-variety approach.” Also not [...]

Wendy’s North America systemwide same-store sales increased 2.3% in the second quarter, ended July 3, 2011, President-CEO Roland Smith reported this morning. Average check increased 1.4% in the quarter; transactions rose 0.9%.  Now free of Arby’s drag, The Wendy’s Co. appears energized about strengthening the Wendy’s brand. Most of what was discussed on today’s analyst [...]

McDonald’s is making a surprising, embarrassing and uncharacteristic admission to Australian consumers beginning June 5, confessing that its coffee isn’t good enough and pledging to do better.  According to a report in Sydney paper The Australian, McDonald’s will mount “its biggest advertising campaign in the past two years, stretching across TV, radio, newspapers and social [...]

Wendy’s is asking its operators to invest between $13,000 and $23,000 per store in the next months in preparation for this fall’s planned national rollout of the Dave’s Hot ‘n Juicy Cheeseburger that it has been testing since November. CEO Roland Smith said the investment will be needed to cover equipment such as a bun [...]

McDonald’s uses a broad array of marketing tactics, but historically it has left head-to-head-taste-test comparisons to bloggers. That’s why it’s interesting that the chain this week has launched a taste-test TV commercial for its McCafé coffee in Australia. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H36D7puFkZU The spot opens with a young woman’s assertion that “Blind taste tests have shown that more people [...]