There was some good and badeconomic newson Thursday. The good news: Restaurant sales were up 1.1% month-over-month in September, according to new federal data. But wholesale prices were also up. The producer price index was up 1.3% month over month, and 6.3% over the past year, suggesting that inflation will continue to be a problem over the coming months. It also suggests that the U.S. federal reserve will likely keep raising interest rates.
Some companies may be backing away from marketing partnerships, but two chains have proved recently that they can still work. Jack in the Box last month sold Simpsons Treehouse of Horror cups, in honor of the long-running cartoon program’s annual Halloween special. Those cups drove a traffic spike to the chain’s restaurants, according to Placer.ai, easing what has been a tough period overall. The data firm also said that Burger King’s Dragon Ball Super Menu, a meal in conjunction with the anime cartoon, drove a traffic spike to the chain’s restaurants in early September.
Noodles & Companyis making ramen a permanent part of its menu with the introduction of two new menu items and the repositioning of an existing item. The Spicy Korean Steak Noodles, which had always been made with ramen, has been renamed Spicy Korean Steak Ramen Noodles, and it’s joined in a new section of the menu by Sweet Sesame Steak Ramen Noodles and Gochujang Carbonara Ramen Noodles. The new items come after the runaway success of the limited-time Chili Garlic Ramen that was introduced last year and which CEO Joe Christina said was the most successful LTO in the chain’s history. Apart from selling well, it also brought in new and younger <a href="https://bitcomme.com/mytv-uses-ai-to-enhance-the-customer-experience-with-digital-content/” title=”MyTV uses AI to enhance the customer experience with digital content.”>customers, according to the chain.
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