How are the Olympics impacting some Paris restaurants? Which pizza chain earned accolades for its latest design? What will Darden do when it completes its Chuy’s acquisition? What’s the latest GDP outlook? We answer these questions and more This Week in Foodservice.

What will it take for AI to finally take off in foodservice?

A prioritization of data security and the ability to ensure that AI enhances rather than replaces human interaction would be a good starting point, per a Food Institute analysis.

In fact, AI has the potential to be helpful in some less glamorous back-of-house applications such as improving supply chain efficiency and reducing food waste through better demand forecasting, the story adds.

Some experts note that it is early in AI’s lifecycle and subsequent versions will likely produce better results, too.

Foodservice News

• If you thought hosting the Olympics would be good for Paris restaurants, think again. For the cafes along the banks of the Seine in Paris, summer usually means big business. Security restrictions ahead of the Olympic games, though, have many tables sitting empty, as Reuters reports.
• Retail and dining operations continue to show signs of being resilient, per Placer.ai data. Year over year, foot traffic among the companies in the Placer 100 Index for Retail and Dining shows June visits up 6.8% compared to the same month in 2023. This comes after a 5.3% year-over-year increase in traffic in May of 2024.
• Krispy Kreme has sold a majority ownership stake in Insomnia Cookies to Verlinvest and Mistral Equity Partners for $350 million. Krispy Kreme acquired Insomnia Cookies in 2018. Insomnia Cookies has thrived under Krispy Kreme ownership thanks, in part, to its ability to leverage the former’s hub and spoke model, per a Restaurant Dive. At the end of the first quarter, Insomnia Cookies had 277 global cookie bakeries, an increase of about 16% compared to 239 during the quarter ending April 2, 2023, according to an earnings release.
• Is Del Taco really the best quick-service restaurant chain in the land? The readers of USA Today think so. The chain earned the top spot in the newspaper’s annual readers’ choice awards for QSRs, coming in ahead of such segment stalwarts as KFC (No. 2) and Chick-fil-AInterestingly, QDOBA Mexican Eats took the top place in the paper’s survey of the top 10 fast-casual restaurants. Torchy’s Tacos and BurgerFi took second and third place on the fast-casual list.
• Little Caesars earned accolades for its POD Modular Units. The pizza chain was one of the winners of Franchise Updates’ annual Franchise Innovation Awards in the category of Most Innovative Building Design, Remodel, or Prototype, per a Franchising.com story. The units are built off-site and transported via semi-truck to the concrete foundation on location. Due to the way it is manufactured, PODs building costs are lower and have a quicker construction timeline than most traditional restaurants, averaging 90 days from start to opening date.
• The restaurant industry had a strong showing in Entrepreneur's second annual ranking of the Top Brands for Multi-Unit Owners. Concepts among the top 10 include Taco Bell (No. 1), Jersey Mike’s Subs (No. 4), KFC (No. 5) and Marco’s Pizza (No. 8). The ranking identifies the brands with the most appeal for prospective franchisees interested in multi-unit ownership, as well as existing franchisees looking to expand their portfolios.
• What is on the menu for Chuy’s once Darden acquires it? The multiconcept operator would like to see Chuy’s grow toward the higher end of its long-term growth framework, which is about 10%, per an FSR Magazine story. The 101-unit chain planned to open six to eight restaurants in 2024. Darden does not necessarily want Chuy’s to become a national brand, though. In fact, of its nine concepts only three have what the CEO considers a national footprint: Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse and Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse.

Economic News

• The Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index declined 0.2% in June. This follows a 0.4% decline in May. During the first six months of 2024, the LEI declined by 1.9%, which is 1% less than the contraction over the second half of 2023. The Conference Board projects consumer spending will lose momentum in the coming months and the U.S. GDP growth will come in at 1% annualized in the third quarter of 2024.
• Industrial production increased 0.6% in June, per data from the U.S. Federal Reserve. This comes after a 0.9% increase in May. For the second quarter of 2024, industrial production increased at an annual rate of 4.3%. Manufacturing output increased 0.4% percent in June and 3.4% in the second quarter. Capacity utilization moved up to 78.8% in June, a rate that is 0.9% less than its long-run (1972–2023) average.
• Sales of existing homes declined 5.4% in June compared to the previous month, per data from the National Association of Realtors. June’s sales of 3.89 million homes also represent a 5.4% decline from the same month in 2023. Economists polled by Reuters had projected 4 million sales for the month. No doubt these declines have many affiliated with the housing market hoping for the U.S. Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.
• Building permits issued for privately owned housing units increased 3.4% in June compared to the previous month, per the U.S. Census Bureau. The 1.4 million permits issued in June were 3.1% less than the same month in 2023 and they represent an eight-month low, per Reuters.
• Traditional seasonal volatility continues to impact jobless claims. For the week ending July 13, the number of initial jobless claims increased by 20,000, per the U.S. Department of Labor. The steadier four-week moving average increased by only 1,000 claims, though. Claims tend to fluctuate significantly around holidays and in this case, it’s widely assumed that Independence Day had an impact, as this Reuters story notes.