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Color is something many of us planners take for granted, I am not very good with it, I don’t really understand how the combinations work, etc.

However, I am in awe of the people who live and deal with color on a daily basis, of course designers and art directors, but there others like forecasters who can talk expressively about new palettes and inspirations.

We all know there’s a massive industry devoted to color, an industry that’s just gotten a little smaller since the mighty Pantone was acquired by X-Rite (I haven’t heard of them either).

Although unknown to many of us, X-Rite produces a number of standards to help people understand the precise colors things like foods should be.

One of its standards is the Munsell USDA Frozen French Fry Standard,that helps ensure you make perfectly cooked fries

It’s amazing to think how much color influences our lives, and its great to think there are people out there helping make sure our eyes get what they desire, even to the extent of dictating the precise color of the ideal French Fry.

Via A Hamburger Today

 

Posted by Ed Cotton Often business is all about doing more with what you have. Imagine you are a fast food giant, you have all those fixed costs and overhead and if there not being utilized, that's an issue. This problem is exactly what's on the mind of the senior executives of Yum brands. Across the United States with the KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut brands, the company has in excess of 18,000 restaurants.

Yum believe that we are not using them enough. Specifically, we're not going to Taco Bell or KFC for breakfast and there are no dessert options at either store and then there's Pizza Hut which is doing minimal business at lunch time.

This is a big problem for these brands, but they've brought it upon themselves; Taco Bell is so linked to late, late night that it would be impossible to think of the brand as a breakfast destination, unless it happens to be at 3am. In addition, consumers tend to get locked into ritual, the morning trip to KFC for a chicken and egg sandwich, after the trip to Starbucks, doesn't quite work.

Anyway, the company thought it was important enough to raise at a Deutsche Bank conference in Paris this June and this is clearly going to be a stategic focus for the company moving forward.

If anyone has any smart ideas about Mexican or Southern inspired breakfast or dessert options, please let Yum know.


Posted by Ed Cotton Here are some new food ideas I spotted in London last week, it includes some interesting concepts that put "health" or "healthier" at the center of the idea and a twist on the typical chocolate store.

1. Hamburger Union

A burger chain with a difference, it only uses beef from grass-fed, free-range cattle.



2. Maoz

A veggie fast-food chain with locations across Europe and now a couple in the United States and one in Australia.


3. Pure California

A new concept that exports the California fast food concept of wraps and smoothies to London.


4. Hummus Bros

A hummus and pita bread chain.


5. Hotel Chocolat

A chocolate themed hotel, not really, instead it's a luxury chocolate store.


Posted by Ed Cotton This Sunday's New York Times had a good piece on how McDonald's is changing its image in Europe localizing menus, which it has done for years, but more recent efforts have been focused on store design. The article had a good slideshow, but I dug up some other examples, that show just how far the brand is pushing to be relevant in Europe. It's probably just a matter of time before some of these design initiatives come to the US.

McCafe in Germany


McDonald's in Germany



McDonald's Milan, Italy




Posted by Ed Cotton In the last couple of years, the term, Innovation, has risen and fallen from star to cliché.

Mention the word to many marketers and their c-level brothers and sisters, and they will give you a perplexed look. There’s the perception that innovation is hard and complex. It’s not achieved easily and not to be undertaken by anyone without sufficient stamina. The most popular misconception is that it’s hard because it’s all about breaking through with a radical idea.

Sometimes innovation can happen in a much simpler way.

Take the fast food giant, McDonald’s and it’s latest pride and joy, the snack wrap.

Developed by Dan Coudreaut, the company’s director of a culinary innovation.

He was given the brief to develop a new chicken item that would work well for takeout.

Coudreaut developed 85 ideas that met the brief including one called a “tacadilla” which failed in consumer testing.

His solution was to create something simpler.

According to the Wall Street Journal.

“He took breaded chicken used in the restaurant's Chicken Selects strips, topped it with shredded cheddar jack cheese and lettuce, added a few squirts of ranch sauce and wrapped it in a flour tortilla. McDonald's called it a snack wrap and put it on the menu for $1.29.”

The Snack Wrap is one of the most successful product launches in McDonald’s history and was mentioned yesterday as a major contributor to the company’s 4.8% worldwide growth for the month of April.