Legal Challenges, Changing Demand and Wage Pressures in Foodservice

The foodservice industry continues to navigate a complex mix of legal scrutiny, evolving consumer preferences and ongoing labor challenges. Recent lawsuits targeting major brands underscore heightened expectations around transparency and worker protections, while new data reveals how even small factors like cooking oil are increasingly shaping dining decisions, particularly among younger consumers.

At the same time, global traffic trends show cautious but steady recovery, with quick-service restaurants leading the way despite economic headwinds. Layered onto this are mounting wage debates...

Survey Finds Cooking Oil Influences Where Americans Choose to Eat

Coast Packing Company, the leading supplier of animal fat shortenings in the Western U.S., has released new findings from a national consumer survey showing that the type of cooking oil a restaurant uses is no longer just a back-of-house decision. A survey of 1,005 U.S. consumers finds that 43% of Americans say a restaurant's cooking oil influences where they choose to eat. What's more, the data reveals a sharp generational split: younger diners are nearly twice as likely as older Americans to let...

Mayor Johnson Threatens to Veto Ordinance That Would Protect Thousands of Jobs and Restaurants

Coalition of Tipped Workers, Service Operators, Local Businesses and the Illinois Restaurant Association Applaud City Council for Supporting Tip Credit Freeze

Mayor Brandon Johnson is threatening to veto an ordinance that more than half of the City Council supported that would stop the damage being done to the vibrant restaurant industry in each of Chicago's 77 communities.

The ordinance that passed 30-18 freezes the city's tip credit at 24 percent of Chicago's minimum wage, providing needed stability for restaurant workers and...