Happy Friday!

DoorDash launched its Severe Weather Protocol in June 2022. The company uses AI and real-time data to temporarily shut down operations in a delivery area that’s experiencing hurricanes, blizzards, wildfires or tornadoes.

It’s about to get quite the stress test: Severe weather is expected to affect (*checks notes*) every US state this weekend.

3 Numbers

114.2 million Japanese Yen

Priced paid for a 525-pound bluefin tuna at Tokyo’s largest fish market. The fish (worth nearly $800k in USD) reeled in the fourth-highest price since records began in 1999, and was to be served at Michelin-starred sushi restaurant Onodera.

$240

Average resale value on eBay for the $49.95 Starbucks x Stanley Cup, which went on sale last week at Starbucks’ Target locations and quickly sold out in most stores. The viral tumbler brand’s latest product launch created a frenzy, with long lines outside of Target stores as well as a reported fistfight or two.

$6.5 - 7 million

Reported cost of a 30-second commercial at this year’s Super Bowl, in which Popeyes will be debuting its first-ever spot. The hook? The chain plans to offer a free order of 6-piece wings if a team with wings in its logo wins the Big Game. (That’d be the Ravens, Bills, and Eagles, which gives customers a decent shot at getting a freebie.)

Quick Hits

• Salad and Go is now opening a store a week, CEO Charlie Morrison said in a presentation at the ICR Conference in Orlando. The salad concept sees a runway to expand “into the thousands” by using its commissary kitchens to provide affordable salads in small-box locations.

• Speaking of ICR, Papa Johns presented on a slew of changes the company has made in the past year, including unsexy — yet vital — operational improvements that dropped out-the-door times from 28 minutes in 2022 to 19 minutes in 2023, as well as a shift in marketing strategy in which franchisees’ total marketing commitment will drop from a (kind of staggering) 8% of gross sales to 6%.

• John Cywinski, CEO of Modern Restaurant Concepts (which owns Qdoba) hinted this week  that the 750-unit Mexican chain may go public at some point. Perhaps not coincidentally, Qdoba is refranchising large parts of its system (the market loves an asset-light chain!) and it’s investing heavily in sprucing up and remodeling units. (One more note: Cywinski gave what appears to be the quote of ICR when he said of Qdoba’s previous owner, investment behemoth Apollo: “We were a fly on an elephant’s ass.”)

• The Boston Market saga got stranger this week. The chain — which is fending off numerous lawsuits over unpaid bills, not to mention a Department of Labor investigation over unpaid wages — announced on Wednesday its “Boston Market Connect” program, in which anyone can now open a Boston Market inside “an existing restaurant, deli, gas station, or any suitable establishment” without any buy-in requirements. (There will instead be unspecified “mutually beneficial collaborations” between the operator and franchisor.) The press release really undersells the opportunity here: “The company feels this program, laden with historic significance, is set to become a transformative force, paving the way for entrepreneurs to inscribe their names in the records of the Boston Market legacy.”

• We may be in the first inning of the year of restaurant tech consolidation: Last week digital integration provider Chowly acquired Targetable, a digital marketing platform for restaurants. (Chowly also bought ordering provider Koala last year.)

• CES may end today, but a quick scan of the Spoon’s list of food tech exhibits will make you feel like you’re walking starry-eyed through a conference room at the Venetian. (The quick exhibit descriptions are gold. Two favorites: “AI and automation powered bug farm technology” and “Donut robot.”)

• McDonald’s is bringing back the Double Big Mac for a limited time, with the promo scheduled to begin on Jan. 24. (If you’re unsure of what goes into a Double Big Mac, I wouldn’t overthink it.)

• Many California-based operators are sweating April’s minimum-wage increase to $20 an hour. Kura Sushi would be an exception. In an earnings call last week, the chain, which uses a conveyer system to serve small plates to customers, says it sees the wage increase as an opportunity to narrow the price gap with its QSR and fast-casual competitors. For the quarter, the 56-unit chain posted a 3.8% same-store-sales increase along with net loss of $2 million (attributed largely to four new store openings).

• Meanwhile in California, El Pollo Loco (which operates 75% of its stores in the Golden State) is installing kiosks in all corporate stores, while also planning on raising prices in the “mid-single digits” in response to the coming legislation.

Name That Chain!

You get three guesses to name this week’s mystery chain:

• This chain’s founder is an alum of the more food-centric CIA

• Much of the first store’s initial decor came from local hardware stores

• It goes through over 100,000 avocados a day

Stay tuned… the answer will be in next week’s email.

Last issue’s answer: Shipley Do-Nuts

#Content Recs

• Burger King has found that customers perceive service to be faster if it’s friendly, so the company is embarking on a charm offensive. Among other things, that means Elder Millennials now get free crowns.

• New companies bring Michelin star chefs to cook your next dinner party. The cost? Pretty high. Having your friends compliment you on your suspiciously well-executed Beef Wellington? Priceless.  

• Fascinating convo on the state of restaurant tech with Bloomberg’s Michael Halen and 858 Partners co-founder Juan George, touching on more potential tech headwinds in ‘24.

• The Fast Food Secrets guy took over my TikTok algorithm last week. As best I can tell, his bit is to pick fights with chains and then unveil “secret” recipes for products like Wendy’s chili or Costco chocolate chip cookies. (Anyone else old enough to remember when this was America’s favorite cookbook?)

• It doesn’t cost much to kick it in Hattiesburg — the Mississippi town has the least expensive takeout food in the country. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Anchorage and Honolulu pay the highest price premiums. (Also - congrats to the 0.3% of readers who got the Hattiesburg reference.)

• Chicago’s hottest new pizza joint is Cook County Jail.

International Corner!

In an attempt to spur the imaginations of fast-food R&D departments across America — each week I’ll highlight an international item that should warrant at least some menu consideration in the States.

This week: TAKIS BURRITO

From Brand Eating:

The site points out that the tasty Costa Rican product is unlikely to ever make it to the States due to Taco Bell’s deep partnership with PepsiCo (which owns Takis competitor Frito-Lay).

Which is a bit of a shame. While there’s a decent shot the Takis Burrito would cause my esophagus to spontaneously combust, it might be worth it?