A penny problem persists. One chain’s stand against the viral trend 6-7. Vollrath plans to update its factory. Two chains struggle, while another hits a development milestone. These stories and more This Week in Foodservice.

Add a penny problem to the list of challenges facing the foodservice industry. A nationwide shortage means operators can’t order pennies from their local banks, etc.

For an industry where one in four transactions are paid for with cash, that’s a problem, per the National Restaurant Association. That’s why the NRA is urging the U.S. Treasury, the Federal Reserve, and the coin supply chain to work together to ensure the nationwide circulation of the penny.

The association also seeks federal legislation establishing nationwide rounding rules with a safe harbor for restaurant operators handling transactions when exact change is unavailable.

Foodservice Industry News

• Will construction costs be a big issue in 2026? The readers of restaurant development + design think so. A total of 51% of readers participating in the magazine’s award-winning Pulse study say the cost of construction and materials will be the most important factor in how operators allocate their budgets in 2026. Labor concerns were a distant second at 19%.
• Shake Shack provides another example that a few thoughtful adjustments to labor and operations can have a significant impact. For example, the chain has adjusted the way it deploys labor, moving more personnel into peak hours, per a Restaurant Business story. That helps with speed of service and turnover among hourly employees has gone from an average of 90 days to 180 days. Also, instead of cooking its bacon on the flattop, the chain now does so in an oven, which helps with throughput and more.
• Chipotle reached a development milestone in Manhattan, Kan. That’s the location of the chain’s 4,000th location. That means the fast-casual chain is more than halfway to its goal of operating more than 7,000 units systemwide. The location in the Little Apple, as Manhattan, Kan., is known, uses Chipotle’s high-efficiency equipment package, per a company release. Items in that package include a three-pan rice cooker that the chain says enables higher cooking volumes and consistent batching, a dual-sided plancha that reduces cook times for produce and proteins alike, a high-capacity fryer and a produce slicer that streamlines ingredient prep.
• People often love building sandcastles when visiting the beach, but would you dine in one? DoorDash was betting the answer was “yes” when it introduced a temporary dining installation in Miami last week, as restaurant development + design reported. DoorDash used the sandcastle restaurant to promote its online reservation platform. No word as to how successful it was just yet.
• Cracker Barrel continues to deal with the fallout from its failed rebranding efforts from earlier this year, per a story from FSR Magazine. The chain saw same-store sales declined 7.3% during its first fiscal quarter of 2026. The company began laying off employees during its first fiscal quarter and another round is planned for the second quarter. The layoffs are expected to result in annual savings of $20 million to $25 million, the story adds.
• Fast-casual pizza chain Pieology has filed for bankruptcy, per multiple published reports, including this one from Restaurant Dive. The chain had 130 locations in 2022, but as part of its bankruptcy filing it reports having only 45 units systemwide, including 29 franchised restaurants. Pieology’s troubles became acute when funding needed to overhaul operations at 29 underperforming stores fell through earlier this year. The brand failed to secure an alternate capital injection, according to court documents filed by Pieology founder Carl Chang.
• Chicken will continue to rule to roost as the top protein in 2026, per a report from The Food Institute. Citing USDA projections, the story says chicken is likely to remain the dominant animal protein in terms of per capita availability. The agency expects chicken availability to reach 102.8 pounds per person in 2026, while per capita beef availability is projected to decline to 56.9 pounds.
• Nothing warms up winter like the anticipation that comes when new restaurants open. Bon Appétit’s curated list of “winter’s most anticipated restaurant openings” includes a pub-style British seafood spot in New York, a Sicilian joint in Detroit and more.
• Vollrath plans to modernize and expand its Sheboygan, Wis., headquarters. The multi-year phased development will “streamline production flows, increase operational efficiency, and incorporate modern production technologies,” per a company release. The new facility will “deepen Vollrath’s metal-forming expertise.” The project’s first phase is “valued at around $40 million” and will include construction of a 110,000-square-foot manufacturing facility at the company’s corporate campus.
• The restaurant industry continues to feel the impact of the viral craze surrounding 6-7. The latest example comes from In-N-Out Burger, which has removed the number 67 from its ordering system, per multiple published reports, including this one from Fast Company. This was in response of a collection of videos making the rounds of teens responding, let’s call it, enthusiastically when that number was called. (Here’s one of many examples of these videos.) Other chains have taken the more “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” approach. This includes Wendy’s, which added a 67-cent Frosty deal to its menu and Pizza Hut, which was offering 67-cent wings.

Economic News

• Eating and drinking places added a net 5,600 jobs in November, per a National Restaurant Association analysis of date from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. While that was less than the gain of 46,000 jobs in October, it represented the fifth consecutive monthly increase in restaurant jobs. During the past 5 months, eating and drinking places added more than 120,000 jobs. That was a solid improvement from the choppy first half of 2025, when the industry lost a net 4,200 jobs.
• Initial jobless claims totaled 236,000 for the week-ending December 6, 2025, per data from the U.S. Department of Labor. This represents an increase of 44,000 from the previous week. The 4-week moving average was 216,750, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week. While the weekly gain represents the largest jump in claims in five years, economists are not sounding alarm bells just yet. They attribute the gains largely to the volatility around the Thanksgiving holiday, per various published reports.
• Despite a complex economic environment, the outlook among small business owners improved a little in November. The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index came in at 99.0 for the month, a 0.8-point increase from October. The news was not all good, though. In November, the net percent of owners raising average selling prices rose 13 points from October to a net 34%, the highest reading since March 2023 and the largest monthly jump in the survey’s history.