Saturday again – seems like just a couple of days ago! – and we have another busy week to sum up on the Fast Food beat. A few more limited time returns to the big menus this week and the beginning of ‘Winter’ season specialties which should be around for at least a few months…
Princi Italian Pastries at Starbuck’s Roastery locations, to start.
Starbucks branching out to Italian Pastries
The mega Premium Coffee retailer is opening a chain of new Italian themed Pasty Shops across the U.S. Starbucks invested last year in a small startup called Princi, a six-outlet European bakery. Now, Starbucks has become the brand’s global licensing agent. At the same time, Starbucks has closed La Boulange, a San Francisco Bay area chain acquired in 2012. Apparently, Princi has the sales and variety Starbucks wants to associate with its Coffee outlets. Princi shops will begin to appear the beginning of next year and will reportedly carry over 100 different items from pastries to sandwiches.
Right on schedule… A Reuben redux at Subway
Subway is bringing back its popular Reuben sandwich again, for the usual limited time. In case you’ve forgotten, the menu item consists of slices of Corned Beef, Sauerkraut, Thousand Island Sauce and Swiss Cheese, served on a toasted rye roll. I haven’t seen a review of the new Reuben yet, but I expect it will be short on meat and long on veggies and sauce, just like all Subway’s other offerings. Has no one told the board of directors what crappy foo Subway is selling? The shame has been upon the brand for several years, now. Maybe the owners, Doctors Partners, have just been ignoring the sales declines and customer outcries, hoping they’ll go away…
No movement on replacement McD’s Ice Cream machines
Anybody whole like McDonald’s Soft Serve Ice Cream treats will remember that the chain promised eight months ago that it was replacing it often broken ice cream machines at outlets across the land. But one Business Insider has received confirmation from McDOnald’s head office that this has not happened. Customers had been complaining that they couldn’t get Soft Serve treats because the machines were always down. Turned out that employees rebelled at the long, complex process required to clean the machines between batches. And Food Detectives blitzed the Internet with pictures of disgusting, filthy McD’s machine innards, to prove they machines weren’t being cleaned properly. Sorry, McDonald’s: this problem doesn’t just go away when you ignore it, any more than Subway’s go-cheap move on Meat and Cheese.
KFC dials back Nashville Hot Chicken
Seems KFC went overboard with its red hot Nashville Hot Chicken, introduced last year, Maybe it hasn’t been selling as hoped or maybe it’s just too hot for the mainstream market. But KFC is now testing a sweeter Honey Hot Chicken at selected East Coast outlets.
What’s been missing at Taco Bell?
Think for a moment… Got nothing? It’s obvious to those of us who graze all the Fast Food meadows once in a while. The Bell has apparently been testing Fries at a few selected locations. investigators report that one Bell outlet in Irvine, CA, is testing Loaded Seasoned Fries and Crispy Chicken Chips. The Fries are described as ‘loaded’ with Nacho Cheese Sauce, Sour Cream, Pico de Gallo, and Ground Beef. The Pico looked a little weak in the photos I’ve seen. The Chicken Chips look like thick Doritos…
OREOS is at it again, with another new flavour…
This time, it’s Hot Cocoa, for the cold months. Some who’ve tried the coo0kie pre-release say it reminds them of Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate. Others say it’s really close to the Original OREO in flavour. OREO lovers will have to decide for themselves.
And Pepsi celebrates Christmas in Japan…
…With ‘cake-flavoured’ clear Pepsi Christmas Cola. Why? To get into the spirit. But does the Pepsi brain trust at head office know that the Japanese are predominantly Buddhists? Apparently not.
See you right back here in seven!
~ Maggie J.