Tag Archives: food and beverage industry

US

Alaska crab season cancelled after billions vanish

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CNN
 — 

The Alaska snow crab harvest has been canceled for the first time ever after billions of the crustaceans have disappeared from the cold, treacherous waters of the Bering Sea in recent years.

The Alaska Board of Fisheries and North Pacific Fishery Management Council announced last week that the population of snow crab in the Bering Sea fell below the regulatory threshold to open up the fishery.

But the actual numbers behind that decision are shocking: The snow crab population shrank from around 8 billion in 2018 to 1 billion in 2021, according to Benjamin Daly, a researcher with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

“Snow crab is by far the most abundant of all the Bering Sea crab species that is caught commercially,” Daly told CNN. “So the shock and awe of many billions missing from the population is worth noting – and that includes all the females and babies.”

The Bristol Bay red king crab harvest will also be closed for the second year in a row, the agencies announced.

Officials cited overfishing as their rationale for canceling the seasons. Mark Stichert, the groundfish and shellfish fisheries management coordinator with the state’s fish and game department, said that more crab were being fished out of the oceans than could be naturally replaced.

“So there were more removals from the population than there were inputs,” Stichert explained at Thursday’s meeting.

Between the surveys conducted in 2021 and 2022, he said, mature male snow crabs declined about 40%, with an estimated 45 million pounds left in the entire Bering Sea.

“It’s a scary number, just to be clear,” Stichert said.

But calling the Bering Sea crab population “overfished” – a technical definition that triggers conservation measures – says nothing about the cause of its collapse.

“We call it overfishing because of the size level,” Michael Litzow, the Kodiak lab director for NOAA Fisheries, told CNN. “But it wasn’t overfishing that caused the collapse, that much is clear.”

Litzow says human-caused climate change is a significant factor in the crabs’ alarming disappearance.

Snow crabs are cold-water species and found overwhelmingly in areas where water temperatures are below 2 degrees Celsius, Litzow says. As oceans warm and sea ice disappears, the ocean around Alaska is becoming inhospitable for the species.

“There have been a number of attribution studies that have looked at specific temperatures in the Bering Sea or Bering Sea ice cover in 2018, and in those attribution studies, they’ve concluded that those temperatures and low-ice conditions in the Bering sea are a consequence of global warming,” Litzow said.

Temperatures around the Arctic have warmed four times faster than the rest of the planet, scientists have reported. Climate change has triggered a rapid loss in sea ice in the Arctic region, particularly in Alaska’s Bering Sea, which in turn has amplified global warming.

“Closing the fisheries due to low abundance and continuing research are the primary efforts to restore the populations at this point,” Ethan Nichols, an assistant area management biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, told CNN.

Stichert also said that there might be some “optimism for the future” as a few, small juvenile snow crabs are starting to appear in the system. But it could be at least three to four more years before they hit maturity and contribute to the regrowth of the population.

“It is a glimmer of optimism,” Litzow said. “That’s better than not seeing them, for sure. We get a little bit warmer every year and that variability is higher in Arctic ecosystems and high latitude ecosystems, and so if we can get a cooler period that would be good news for snow crab.”

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Business

These fast food restaurants have the best drive-thrus, study says

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New York
CNN
 — 

Every second counts in drive-thru lanes for fast food chains. A recent study showed Chick-fil-A had the slowest one — but only because it’s so popular and there are so many cars in line.

Taco Bell led the pack in speed of service, with an average time of about 221 seconds, followed by Dunkin’ Donuts, KFC and Arby’s. But this metric doesn’t factor the number of cars in line. In that category, Chick-fil-A is the clear leader, with 16% of its lines surveyed counting ten or more cars. McDonald’s, which was in second place, only had 2% with that many customers.

Based on the total time cars spent in line, Chick-fil-A came out on top, with an average of about 107 seconds. McDonald’s came in second at 118 seconds, followed by Taco Bell and Arby’s.

QSR and Intouch Insight published its annual Drive-Thru Report, surveying more than 1,000 consumers who ranked ten industry leaders: Wendy’s, Burger King, Chick-fil-A, Dunkin’, McDonald’s, Arby’s, Carl’s Jr., Hardee’s, Taco Bell, and KFC.

Drive-thrus got bogged down last year mostly because of a shortage of restaurant workers, as thousands left the industry. The pandemic surge of drive-thru and pickup and delivery orders only exacerbated the issue

But luckily for customers, drive-thrus have gotten nearly 10 seconds faster compared to last year — and that can be a big advantage in this highly competitive industry.

“Mere seconds can be a make-it or break-it in terms of where a consumer decides to order,” Amanda Topper, a research director at Mintel, said to CNN Business last year.

However, the current average is still about 45 seconds slower than the 2019 pace. The study said pre-sell menu boards, order accuracy and friendliness helped decrease the wait times at drive-thrus this year.

During peak Covid, Chick-fil-A was one of the first brands to close its dining rooms, focusing its attention on bringing hospitality to the drive-thru outside.

“We believe that looking eye-to-eye with the customer allows for a connection that happens at the beginning of the drive-thru,” Matt Abercrombie, Chick-fil-A’s senior director of service and hospitality, said in the study.

The researchers found that Chick-fil-A had fine tuned the “check-point system,” which keeps customers engaged through different interactions with employees.

And that’s clear in consumer sentiment too — 88% of respondents said Chick-fil-A had friendly service, placing it at the top of the industry. Only 1.7% said the service was “not friendly.”

But when it comes to customer satisfaction, respondents said Arby’s had the most accurate orders filled, at 89.6%. McDonald’s and Burger King closely followed.

Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas named the first modern drive-thru in 1970, coining the term “Pick-Up Window.” And though the company this year announced a makeover that places an “emphasis on convenience, speed and accuracy,” it has lagged behind its competitors in the survey.

The chain plans to redesign its interiors and implement new pick-up windows and a more technologically advanced kitchen.

The pandemic has opened up a new consumer demand for the drive-thru, pressuring fast food companies to upgrade signage, sanitation and technology.

In the survey, Wendy’s came in 7th for speed of service and was also the lowest for order accuracy, at 79.4%. CNN Business has reached out to Wendy’s for comment.

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Entertainment

Brad Pitt’s rep disputes details in Angelina Jolie’s latest allegations about 2016 airplane incident

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CNN
 — 

A countersuit filed Tuesday by actress Angelina Jolie against her ex-husband Brad Pitt includes more information about an alleged physical altercation between the former couple that took place on a plane in 2016.

In a statement to CNN, a representative for Pitt called the latest allegations “completely untrue.”

Jolie and Pitt are battling over Jolie’s sale of her stake in their joint French winery, Chateau Miraval. Jolie sold her half of the winery in 2021 to Tenute del Mondo, a subsidiary of Stoli Group, controlled by Russian oligarch Yuri Shefler.

Pitt sued Jolie in February, claiming that he and Jolie had an agreement that neither would sell without the other’s consent.

Jolie claims in her countersuit that there was never any such agreement and that she sold her portion of the winery in an effort to have “financial independence” from Pitt and to “have some form of peace and closure to this deeply painful and traumatic chapter of her and their children’s lives.”

In the court documents, obtained by CNN, Jolie also shares more details about an alleged incident on a private plane on September 14, 2016, five days before she filed for divorce.

In a section of Jolie’s counterclaim titled “Why Jolie separated from Pitt,” the document alleges that, before arriving to the airport, Pitt got into an argument with one of their six children, who at the time were between the ages of 8 and 15. The filing goes on to allege that on the plane Jolie asked Pitt “what was wrong?” and that Pitt went on to verbally attack her and then an hour and a half later “pulled” her into the bathroom, “grabbed Jolie by the head and shook her, and then grabbed her shoulders and shook her again before pushing her into the bathroom wall.”

The claim also alleges, “Pitt choked one of the children and struck another in the face. Some of the children pleaded with Pitt to stop. They were all frightened. Many were crying.”

In a statement provided to CNN on Tuesday, a representative for Pitt said: “(Jolie’s) story continues to evolve each time she tells it with new, unsubstantiated claims. Brad has accepted responsibility for what he did but will not for things he didn’t do. These new allegations are completely untrue.”

CNN previously reported some of these details from a heavily redacted FBI report in August.

Pitt was not arrested or charged in connection with the incident after the FBI completed an investigation in 2016.

“In response to allegations made following a flight within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States which landed in Los Angeles carrying Mr. Brad Pitt and his children, the FBI has conducted a review of the circumstances and will not pursue further investigation. No charges have been filed in this matter,” FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said in a statement to CNN at the time.

“All parties have had this information for nearly six years and was used in previous legal proceedings. There is nothing new here and serves no purpose other than being a media stunt meant to inflict pain,” a source close to Pitt said of the August report.

CNN has reached out to representatives for Jolie regarding the most recent court filing, which states that during the plane incident, Pitt allegedly “lunged at his own child and Jolie grabbed him from behind to stop him. To get Jolie off his back, Pitt threw himself backwards into the airplane’s seats injuring Jolie’s back and elbow.”

The court documents also claim that the children “rushed in and all bravely tried to protect each other” and that Jolie and the children “sat still and silent under blankets. Nobody dared to go to the bathroom.”

For this reason, the legal documents state, Jolie and her six children have not been able to return to Chateau Miraval due to the “pain Pitt inflicted on the family that day.”

Many of the details in Jolie’s countersuit echo those made in a countersuit filed last month by Nouvel LLC, Jolie’s former company.

In his earlier claim, Pitt had alleged that Jolie “did nothing to drive (the) growth” of the business, which he turned into a “multimillion dollar international success story.”

In its countersuit, Nouvel disputed this, saying “Pitt refused to grant Jolie or Nouvel equal access to Chateau Miraval’s records or an equal voice over management,” effectively “holding the most significant part of her net worth hostage.”

Jolie’s countersuit adds that “like other couples,” the two “divided their responsibilities and generally split costs.”

“Jolie made her career as an actor and director secondary to her primary responsibility of raising the children. She also oversaw the day-to-day running of the Jolie-Pitt Foundation, to which she not only contributed substantial amounts of time but also substantial amounts of cash (over twice what Pitt contributed),” the document states. “Pitt continued with his Hollywood career and took primary responsibility for renovating the chateau.”

She also claims that she repeatedly tried to sell her stake in the winery to Pitt, as recently as last year and that Pitt was going to buy her portion for $54.5 million in February but that Pitt “demanded” she sign a broad non-disparagement clause “that would prohibit Jolie from discussing outside of court any of Pitt’s personal conduct toward her or the family,” inherently including the allegations of abuse from the 2016 incident.

Jolie claims that she refused to sign this clause and called it “an abusive and controlling deal-breaker.”

The counterclaim asks the court to declare Jolie’s sale of her stake final so that the actress can “move on from the winery and chateau.”

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Business

1,000 food workers at San Francisco airport are on strike

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CNN Business
 — 

Workers who provide food and drinks to travelers at San Francisco International Airport are on strike, seeking what they say would be their first raise in four years.

The 1,000 strikers are members of Unite Here Local 2, a Bay Area union with 15,000 members. The airport workers work under a multi-employer joint labor agreement that covers 30 different employers spread among 84 different locations at the airport.

“Passengers should bring their own food and grab coffee before arriving at SFO,” said Anand Singh, president of the union, who said the union has been in negotiations for nine months.

“Almost all of SFO’s food and beverage outlets are closed. Workers are tired of jobs that aren’t enough to live on, and we’re prepared to strike for as long as it takes to win better wages and affordable health care.”

The negotiating team for the restaurants did not immediately reply to a request for comment Tuesday. Airport management, which is not a party to the talks, issued a statement apologizing to passengers for any inconvenience.

The most recent session was last week and management’s offer wasn’t close to meeting union demands, Singh told CNN Business. He would not disclose what percentage increase the union is seeking, but said that unlike some recent strikes and labor talks that focused on working conditions, this one is first and foremost about wages.

“This really is at the end of the day about economics,” he said. “Jobs at the airport used to be great jobs. They have a benefit package you can’t find a lot of other places. But members are having to take second jobs at the airport to supplement their income.”

The majority of its workers make $17.05 per hour, according to the union, just pennies above San Francisco’s $16.99 per hour minimum wage. There is now a higher minimum wage of $19.15 an hour for jobs on city-owned properties, which includes the airport, but these union workers are still under the 2018 contract.

The current wage doesn’t provide a livable wage in the San Francisco Bay Area, the union says, and wages were well above the $15 an hour minimum level in effect when the last contract was negotiated in 2018. The contract includes fully-paid health care and a traditional pension plan.

“I’m on strike because I want to quit my second job and have more time with my family,” said Kristine Mauricio, a barista at both Peet’s Coffee and Black Point Cafe. “I have to work two jobs to support my son, and it means I barely get to be with him because I am always at work. My pay for a whole hour of work is less than the price of just one meal. That is 100% unfair.”

Strikes have been on the rise across the US and in multiple industries so far this year. A database kept by Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations shows 283 strikes this year, up 82% from 155 in the same period of 2021.

Workers have been emboldened by a strong labor market, with about twice as many job openings as there are unemployed job seekers, which makes it difficult for employers to hire replacement workers to take the place of strikers.

Only 1.2% of workers at restaurants and bars are members of a union according to Labor Department data for 2021, compared to 6.1% of workers at businesses overall.

Wages in the sector are typically low, with Labor Department data showing that median weekly wages nationwide are $607 for nonunion workers, and $725 for the small percentage of workers who represented by a union.

The food service sector has a particularly high turnover rate among unhappy employees, with twice the rate of workers quitting as at businesses overall, which has helped to feed unionization efforts at other companies. A union effort has won votes at more than 200 Starbucks stores nationwide, and last month workers at a Chipotle in Lansing, Michigan voted to join the Teamsters.

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Business

Burger King has a plan to make you fall in love with the Whopper again

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New York
CNN Business
 — 

The past few years have been tough for Burger King.

Missteps during the pandemic caused the chain to lag behind competitors. Over the past few quarters, Burger King has been playing catch up, and now the company is hoping a major investment in restaurants and advertising will help spark growth and propel it ahead of its peers.

In the next two years, Burger King, which is owned by Restaurant Brands International

(QSR), is planning to invest $400 million in improving the brand — $250 million will go toward updating restaurant tech, kitchens and remodeling, and $150 million to advertising and digital products. Franchisees will also invest in improving the brand.

One key part of that plan? Reminding customers of what Burger King is all about: The Whopper.

“What we really want to do in the short term is reintroduce America’s love affair with the Whopper,” Tom Curtis, President of Burger King North America, told CNN Business. The plan is to make sure workers are well trained in making the best possible Whopper, and that kitchens support consistency and ease of preparation.

The fast food giant is also going to lean in to advertising its signature burger.

“I don’t think we’ve talked about it enough. I just don’t think we’ve celebrated it enough,” Curtis said. “And I’m looking forward to putting it back in its rightful place as our lead act.” Through advertising, Burger King wants to remind customers that the Whopper is flame-grilled and customizable. But some other tweaks could be in store as well, Curtis said.

The brand is “evaluating whether or not there are changes to the Whopper that could make it a better product,” he said. But the team also doesn’t want to risk messing with its best known offering. “[We’re] a little bit in the camp of if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Curtis said.

During the pandemic, restaurants had to quickly adjust their business models to contend with disrupted supply chains, closed dining rooms and a spike in demand for delivery. Burger King didn’t adapt very well.

“Over the last few years during the pandemic and coming out of the pandemic … [Burger King US] didn’t do a great job of adjusting our business to the environment, ” RBI CEO Jose Cil told CNN Business. “We didn’t simplify.”

In the pandemic, many restaurants quickly slimmed down menus in order to simplify kitchen operations when delivery orders suddenly went through the roof. Workers scrambling to fill online orders could at least avoid complicated preparations.

But Burger King did the opposite.

“We, in fact, complicated things,” Cil said, “we added menu items … that were more difficult and not necessarily intuitive and typical for us to serve.”

Specifically Cil is talking about the Ch’King, a hand-breaded chicken sandwich that the chain introduced last year. The product “created a ton of bottlenecks operationally,” Cil said.

The issues set Burger King back as competitors advanced. In the second quarter of this year, sales at Burger King US restaurants open at least 13 months grew by just .4%. Sales at McDonald’s

(MCD) US restaurants open at least 13 months jumped 3.7% in that period.

Burger King recently retired the Ch’King, replacing it with the Royal Crispy Chicken sandwich.

The Ch’King “was a great product that was difficult or challenging for teams to execute on,” Curtis said. “The best thing for the guest is great flavor and consistency. So our Royal Crispy Chicken, which we just launched, offers both.”

As Burger King continues to work on other menu innovations, it will have to balance ease of execution with items that excite customers, Curtis added.

To help boost sales and restaurant traffic, Burger King is making other improvements, including making restaurants look more modern.

The chain plans to remodel about 800 restaurants over the next two years.

The idea is to have consistent branding, but with customized layouts that make sense for the environment, Curtis said. A Burger King in a city might be smaller, with a higher focus on digital ordering. In a rural town, it might have more seating.

Burger King has already started updating its image. The brand changed its logo last year, switched packaging, uniforms and signage to the new look. A few years ago, it shared what remodeled restaurants might look like: triple-lane drive-thrus, burger pickup lockers and takeout counters.

The company also wants to make make it easier for customers to use the chain’s mobile app, revamp its rewards program by offering customized digital deals, and make delivery and to-go orders more convenient.

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Business

E. coli outbreak associated with Wendy’s restaurants has now sickened 97 people in 6 states

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CNN
 — 

Wendy’s restaurants have been associated with an E. coli outbreak now reported in six states, with 97 people infected, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in an update Thursday.

Of the 67 people for whom local public health officials have a detailed food history, 81% reported eating at a Wendy’s restaurant in the week before their illness started, the CDC said.

No deaths have been reported, but according to the CDC, 43 people have been hospitalized and 10 developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a serious condition that can cause kidney failure.

“The true number of sick people in this outbreak is likely higher than the number reported, and the outbreak may not be limited to the states with known illnesses,” the update said. “In addition, some people recover without medical care and are not tested for E. coli.”

So far, no specific food has been confirmed as the source of the outbreak, according to the CDC. In late August, however, Wendy’s removed the romaine lettuce that was being used in sandwiches in its restaurants in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to the CDC.

The CDC is not advising people to avoid Wendy’s, and the agency notes there is no evidence that romaine lettuce sold in grocery stores or served in other restaurants is linked to the current outbreak.

Those who have E. coli symptoms, like diarrhea and a fever over 102°F, severe vomiting or signs of dehydration, should call their health care provider right away, according to the CDC. They are also urged to write down what they ate the week before and report their illness to their local or state health department.

Each year, around 1 in 6 Americans gets a foodborne illness from at least 31 known pathogens and other unspecified agents, according to the CDC, and around 3,000 lose their lives.

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