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3 Numbers

$90 million

Amount paid by Wonder for the food media company, Tastemade, a popular streaming and social media brand. Founder Marc Lore said in a statement that Tastemade will create a “first-of-its-kind media network” that leverages its audience and production capacity with Wonder’s digital and food-hall presence. (Remember: Wonder also purchased Grubhub a couple of months ago. Continue to be fascinated by what’s being built here…)

23

Dual-branded IHOP/Applebee’s that Dine Brands International plans to open this year. At this point, the co-branded concept is essentially a tool of American soft power — the stores span the UAE, Honduras, Peru, and at least five other international markets, with more planned.

45

Pizza Huts bought by the mega franchisee Flynn Group. The acquisition — which includes stores in Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee — helped Flynn Group crack 1K Pizza Huts (or 20% of the entire domestic system).

What’s On My Mind

Last week’s “Name That Chain” asked you to guess the name of the largest restaurant chain in the world.

You’d be forgiven if you didn’t know the answer: Mixue, a bubble tea concept that passed McDonald’s earlier this year with over 45,000 restaurants. Mixue is known for its extreme value proposition (drinks are priced between $0.30 and $1.20) as well as its unique business model; as a franchisor, it makes most of its money not from royalties, but from selling food material, equipment and packaging to its franchisees.

Mixue reportedly has its eyes on the U.S. market, but no solid plans have yet materialized — it just went public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and there’s still plenty of white space in the Asia Pacific region for it to grow.

But another China-born beverage concept, Luckin Coffee, is reportedly making moves in the U.S., at least according to a tip buried in a story by the Tribeca Citizen. As Restaurant Business reported yesterday, this would confirm a previous Financial Times story that said Luckin “was planning its first U.S. Location sometime in 2025.”

You may remember Luckin from a pretty wild accounting scandal a few years ago — after booming in China, it went public in the U.S., and then was found to have faked a bunch of its numbers.

The scandal drove the company to file for bankruptcy, but it’s since come out the other side with new financing and a new executive roster.

Luckin is nimble and tech-forward — its stores utilize self-service kiosks and have on-the-go pickup points; it also innovates constantly, with new drink concoctions being unveiled on a scale beyond even Taco Bell’s wildest aspirations.

And like Mixue, it sells its drinks cheaply — en route to its Chinese domination, Luckin consistently undercut Starbucks on price.

Both Luckin and Mixue share another key attribute: staggeringly fast growth.

Luckin doubled its unit count from June 2023 to the end of 2024 — adding around 11,500 stores during that time frame. Mixue has opened 35,000 restaurants in the past 6 years.

That’s operating on a vastly different time frame than even our fastest-growing success stories.

It’s highly doubtful they’re able to pull off those numbers in the mature American market. But they’ll make for fascinating concepts to watch.

Headlines

Cava has begun its Midwest expansion, opening its first store in Indiana last week. Traffic to quick-service restaurants fell 2.8% last month, while net sales increased by a slight 0.4%. Starbucks plans on upgrading its coffee shops with additional seating and more charging outlets. An early take on Taco Bell’s AI coach for restaurant managers: “very cool and slightly unsettling.” (Kinda sums up the technology in general, no?)

Name That Chain!

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

• This chain was founded in 1984 in a small city in Wisconsin.

• It still primarily operates in the Midwest.

• It’s known for its indulgent offerings, including an alliterative, dairy-themed burger.

Find the answer at the bottom of the email…

#Content Recs

• What a life: Junior Bridgeman played 12 seasons in the NBA, retired to learn the restaurant business, and went on to build a billion-dollar franchise empire, paving the way for future athletes-turned-moguls.

• Speaking of: how Craveworthy Brands acquired Ndamukong Suh’s cinnamon roll concept.

• Inside McDonald’s internal shakeup — including the creation of a chief restaurant experience officer to speed up innovation.

• It’s been five years since Covid rocked the restaurant industry. One lingering after-effect: way more people are now dining alone.

‘Member When?!

Yesterday, I honored St. Patrick’s Day by doing a deep dive into a McDonaldland character reintroduced for the holiday: Uncle O'Grimacey.

I’m somewhat of a scholar on McDonaldland lore, but Uncle O’Grimacey had escaped previous research. That’s probably due to his obscurity — he originated in a 1975 commercial as part of an origin story for the Shamrock Shake, then sometime in the mid ‘80s, he disappeared.

McDonald’s has spent the past few years mining its McDonaldland IP to promote limited time offers — with the Hamburglar and Grimace both successfully tapping customer nostalgia (and winning substantial earned media) — so the time was right for Uncle O’Grimacey’s return. He had been estranged from Grimace, the story goes, but Grimace recently came across the original family recipe for the Shamrock Shake, got very excited, and decided to fly his old Irish uncle back to the States to help share the good news.

Glad to have you back, Uncle O’Grimacey:

Thanks for reading! We’ll be back next week with more Industry Bites.

Andy

GUESS THAT CHAIN ANSWER: Culver’s, home of the ButterBurger