Which is the latest chain to offer a value meal? What’s the industry outlook for 2024? What’s a scallion latte? And who is the 2024 Les Grande Dame? You will find answers to these questions and more This Week in Foodservice.

The latest chain to add a value meal is…Starbucks? Indeed, it is.

The ubiquitous Seattle-based coffee company’s value meal comes in two options, per a CNN report. The first option pairs a hot or iced coffee drink and a croissant for $5. The second option, which comes in at $6, includes the same drink options paired with a breakfast sandwich. Both are available throughout the day.

The value meal comes after Starbucks experienced a challenging quarter from an earnings perspective and amid customers worried about surging food prices. McDonald’s is the latest restaurant of note to offer a value meal. Previously, McDonald’s and Burger King announced plans to offer value meals, as this Bloomberg story notes.

But the value meal is one of several changes Starbucks plans to make this summer. Notably, the chain will open its app to all consumers, and not just those enrolled in its loyalty program. The thinking here is that the convenience of mobile ordering via the chain’s app will help occasional customers return to Starbucks stores more frequently, as this Restaurant Business story notes.

The chain also plans to update its app later this summer and continue to roll out some new menu items.

Foodservice News

• There’s good news and bad news in the latest Technomic forecast. The good news is that Technomic projects industry sales will increase 3.8% in 2024. The bad news is that forecast represents a 1.5% decline from the company’s initial projection for 2024. The company cites higher prices and lower customer traffic as the main reasons for the decline.
• For the second time in four years, Rubio’s Coastal Grill has filed for bankruptcy. The company had previously filed for bankruptcy in 2020. This most recent filing came on the heels of the company saying it would close 48 restaurants in California due to “the rising cost of doing business” in the state, as the New York Post reported. The chain plans to use the bankruptcy process to find a buyer, per several other reports.
• Can an old fox’s old tricks bring a shuttered c-store brand back to life? Mike LaVitola thinks so. He is the founder of Foxtrot Markets, the Chicago-based c-store chain that was owned by Outfox Hospitality, which filed for bankruptcy in April of this year. (LaVitola was not involved with that, per published reports.) The company plans to open 15 Foxtrot markets across Chicago, Dallas and Austin, Texas, later this summer, per an Eater report. In doing so, Foxtrot will maintain its store layouts and emphasize “local, small, emerging vendors,” which was part of the chain’s initial success. A company called Further Point bought Foxtrot’s non-real estate assets as part of a brief online auction in May.
• Scallion lattes are a thing? This trend blew up on TikTok and has gone viral but traces its roots to China’s so-called “dark cuisine” trend, as this Chowhound story notes. The recipe is far from complicated as it includes scallions, ice, milk, and espresso. This VegNews story will walk you through the steps on how to make a scallion latte (some refer to it as a spring onion latte, too). And to watch someone actually make and taste a spring onion latte, check out this video from Golden Brown Coffee.
• Congratulations to Carla Hall, the 2024 recipient of the Les Dames’ Grande Dame Award. Presented by Les Dames d’Escoffier International, this award recognizes “outstanding lifetime achievements within the food, beverage and hospitality industries.” Every oher year, the recipients are chosen through nominations and votes from Les Dames’ 2,400 members across 43 chapters worldwide. Hall is a renowned chef, best-selling author, and television personality having worked on a variety of television shows for the Food Network as well as Bravo’s Top Chef. Les Dames d’Escoffier International will formally present Hall with her honor this fall.

Economic News

• The U.S. economy added 272,000 jobs in May, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is 82,000 jobs more than economists polled by Dow Jones had projected, per a NBC News story. The restaurant industry added a net 24,600 jobs in May, per The National Restaurant Association. The U.S. unemployment rate remained relatively steady at 4.0%.
• Private sector employment increased by 152,000 jobs in May and annual pay grew by 5.0% year-over-year, according to the May ADP National Employment Report. Leisure and hospitality companies added 12,000 positions. This was less than the 188,000 positions added in April and less than the 175,000 positions some economists had estimated, per CNBC. “Job gains and pay growth are slowing going into the second half of the year. The labor market is solid, but we're monitoring notable pockets of weakness tied to both producers and consumers,” said Nela Richardson, ADP’s chief economist.
• U.S.-based employers announced 63,816 cuts in May, a 1.5% decrease from April, per data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas. May’s cuts were also 20% less than the same month in 2023. So far this year the number of job cuts announced is 7.6% less than those announced through May of last year. The news was not all good, though, as this was the third-highest January-to-May total since 822,282 cuts were recorded through May 2009. The highest January-May total occurred in 2020, when 1,414,828 job cuts were recorded.
• Initial jobless claims grew by 8,000 for a total of 229,000 for the week-ending June 1, 2024, per the S. Department of Labor. The 4-week moving average was 222,250, a decrease of 750 from the previous week.
• Labor productivity increased 0.2% in the first quarter of 2024, per the S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Output increased 0.9% and hours worked increased 0.6%. Unit labor costs increased 4.0% in the first quarter of 2024, reflecting a 4.2% increase in hourly compensation and a 0.2% increase in productivity. Unit labor costs increased 0.9% over the last four quarters.
• The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index grew 0.8-points in May taking the study to its highest level of the year. Even with that increase the May reading of 90.5 is still less than the index’s historical average of 98. The uncertainty index rose nine points for a reading of 85, its highest level since November 2020. And 22% say inflation is the single biggest issue facing their businesses.
• Economic activity in the services sector grew in May, per the Services ISM Report On Business. The Services PMI came in at 53.8%, which is 4.4% greater than April. The Business Activity Index registered 61.2% in May, which is 10.3 percentage points higher than the 50.9% recorded in April.