All Itsu articles – Page 5
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NewsPret spends £20m on allergy overhaul
Pret A Manger spent £20m last year on anti-allergy measures, including full ingredients labelling, as it overhauled safety measures after the deaths of two people who had eaten its products, The Financial Times reports.
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NewsBourke joins Wireless Social as NED
ETM Group director of sales and marketing Sam Bourke has taken on additional role as non-executive director of Wireless Social.
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Analysis & InsightInstagram: Looking Good Enough To Eat
No dish reaches the candy pink menu at EL&N cafe without having its photo taken first. The chain’s head of food Daniel Booth will “play around with dishes during the development process, taking photos to see how they look through a lens before finalising them,” says head of marketing Sahar Mahdavian. The result is immaculate. Sambazon acai smoothie bowls and edible flowers perch pristinely on ancient grain granola, more modern art than breakfast.
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NewsItsu looks to tech as it ‘changes model fundamentally’
Customisation, convenience and sustainability are the three trends that will have the biggest impact on the food to go sector, Itsu brand and marketing director Jemima Ferguson told delegates at MCA’s Food To Go conference last week.
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Analysis & InsightFood to Go key take-outs
Now I might be a tad biased, but I thought MCA’s recent Food to Go conference was rather good. It’s always great to hear from operators at the coal-face, and the line-up included several interesting speakers all prepared to share some insights on how they are grappling with the opportunities and challenges of the maturing Food to Go marketplace. And yes, let’s not be in any illusion, some of the froth has come off this previous darling of the Eating Out market, with increasing signs of localised saturation only reinforcing the importance of enhancing consumer relevance. So how is this being pursued?
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NewsLast chance to get tickets for Food to Go
Taking place tomorrow, at the Ham Yard Hotel in London, Food to Go 2020 is gearing up to the best event yet in this successful conference’s five year history.
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Event News
Food to Go Conference 2020
Vibrant and dynamic, food to go is filled with flavour but always served fast. It’s a classic combo of quality ingredients, ongoing menu development and uber efficient organisation to keep queues moving quickly and customers happy. And innovation is everywhere.
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NewsImbiba backs Wireless Social with £1m
Imbiba, the specialist leisure investor, has backed hospitality tech business Wireless Social with £1m of funding.
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NewsReview of the Year Part Two
When England achieved the impossible, and destroyed the indestructible All Blacks in the semi-finals of the Rugby World Cup, it looked like it was going to be a bumper day for hospitality on the day of the final. The UK would wake up early and hit the pubs and bars first thing to watch England win the final, followed by trips to restaurants, followed by pubs, bars and clubs, before ending up slumped on the sofa trying to focus on the highlights and order a Deliveroo. All England had to do was win.
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NewsReview of the Year part One
Amid a backdrop of casual dining carnage and CVAs around every corner, the industry had plenty of news in 2019. But Pizza Express delivered drama. With 490 sites in the UK, Pizza Express is a national institution. So when it announced a net debt pile of £1.1bn earlier this year, and premature rumours of its demise hit the airwaves, the country rallied itself in the way it does best these days – by keyboard.
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NewsGotham’s Christmas-ish Quiz!
It’s the week before Christmas and I hope many thresholds are being crossed, multiple tipples downed and that tills are ringing out! For my part, I have been thinking about what sort of Christmas present to get lucky readers – I have been racking my mind and the best I can do is the joy of a quiz!
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NewsFast-moving grown-up Coco di Mama ‘can do’
Carbs and caffeine is a formula that has fuelled Coco di Mama’s expansion well. The fast-casual brand has been deftly serving long queues of office workers just that since 2011. This sweet spot customer, the 25-35-year-old affluent City worker, was the genesis of the brand in Fleet Street. While this core demographic served Coco well in its early years, a new management team last year realised it needed to broaden its appeal if it was to continue its expansion into adulthood.
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NewsSnapshot: Puttshack Bank in pictures
Puttshack has opened its first central London site, at 1 Poultry, Bank.
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NewsYo! to trial grab and go concept in Manchester
Yo! is to trial an express format restaurant designed for customers on the go, like a “Japanese version of Leon”, MCA’s sister title Big Hospitality reports.
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NewsSay hello to the newest version of Yo!
When Yo! Sushi arrived in the UK in 1997 it was everything casual dining wants to be in 2019. Colourful, fun, innovative and fresh, it also had entertainment on the side thanks to the novel kaiten conveyor belt that served up plates of food. Remarkably, the novelty hasn’t worn off, even after 22 years. Yo!, which dropped the ‘Sushi’ from its name in September to send a message to the squeamish that it offered more than just raw fish, reported a UK sales hike of 5% to £88.9m in July.
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Analysis & Insight‘TRG now has a future’
The legacy of Andy McCue’s truncated time as chief executive of The Restaurant Group is, as well all know, the £559m acquisition of Wagamama. When the deal squeaked through last year, there was widespread scepticism over the longevity of its stellar like-for-like sales growth.
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News
Pure appoints Takhamt as first COO
Healthy grab and go brand Pure has appointed Said Takhamt, formerly of Pret, itsu and Eat, as its first chief operating officer.
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NewsWrapchic bought out of administration
Indian-Mexican fusion burrito brand Wraphic has been bought out of administration after being impacted by “issues with franchisees”.
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NewsPrezzo appoints David Haimes to Board
Prezzo has appointed David Haimes as non-executive Director. Haimes has spent over 20 years in the food and drink industry, including CEO of Obikà Mozzarella Bars & Restaurants and MD at brands including Yum! Brands, Itsu, Luminar Leisure and Tchibo GB.
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NewsJust Eat acquires City Pantry to enter B2B catering
Just Eat has snapped up City Pantry for an initial £16m.