Plus: Wicked Food Witches & Protruding Potbelly’s
“A photo of the ‘Wicked Witch of the West’ appeared on the screen,” Jeff Gelski reports for Food Business News.
“‘That would be you,’ David Freeman said in a Westin Chicago River North hotel ballroom full of food scientists and food product developers.
“The food industry may follow a product development path to rid itself of this villain image, Mr. Freeman said March 20 at the Institute of Food Technologists’ Wellness 14. An article he wrote appeared last summer in The Atlantic and argued that solving the obesity issue will require food industry professionals to develop healthier products.”
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The opening of that Atlantic article, titled “How Junk Food Can End Obesity:”
Late last year, in a small health-food eatery called Cafe Sprouts in Oberlin, Ohio, I had what may well have been the most wholesome beverage of my life. The friendly server patiently guided me to an apple-blueberry-kale-carrot smoothie-juice combination, which she spent the next several minutes preparing, mostly by shepherding farm-fresh produce into machinery. The result was tasty, but at 300 calories (by my rough calculation) in a 16-ounce cup, it was more than my diet could regularly absorb without consequences, nor was I about to make a habit of $9 shakes, healthy or not.
Inspired by the experience nonetheless, I tried again two months later at L.A.’s Real Food Daily, a popular vegan restaurant near Hollywood. I was initially wary of a low-calorie juice made almost entirely from green vegetables, but the server assured me it was a popular treat. I like to brag that I can eat anything, and I scarf down all sorts of raw vegetables like candy, but I could stomach only about a third of this oddly foamy, bitter concoction. It smelled like lawn clippings and tasted like liquid celery. It goes for $7.95, and I waited 10 minutes for it.
I finally hit the sweet spot just a few weeks later, in Chicago, with a delicious blueberry-pomegranate smoothie that rang in at a relatively modest 220 calories. It cost $3 and took only seconds to make. Best of all, I’ll be able to get this concoction just about anywhere. Thanks, McDonald’s!
More about David H. Freedman.
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Burger King Kanye
“Forget diamonds. Nothing says ‘romance’ like Burger King. That’s why Kanye West has purchased Kim Kardashian ten of them as a wedding gift, proving that his love for the reality star is no Whopper,” Mark Gelber writes for AOL.
“According to MSN Entertainment, West hopes that the ten franchises, which are located around Europe, will give Kardashian a point of entry into the controversial fast food industry, and demonstrate that the sometimes aloof-seeming rapper is perfectly capable of loving her tender (crisp).”
Here’s the part we forgot:
“[West’s] KW Foods company operates several Fatburger restaurants in Chicago.”
And here’s why we probably forgot about it:
“In 2007, rapper Kanye West’s restaurant company. KW Foods LLC, struck a deal to open up to 10 Fatburger restaurants in Chicago. Ultimately, in 2009, only two locations actually opened. In February 2011, West shut down the Fatburger located in Orland Park. Later in 2011 the remaining Beverly location also was shuttered.”
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Protruding Potbelly
“Chicago-based Potbelly Sandwich Shop has revealed a multiunit franchise growth plan for Oklahoma City, identifying a market where it hopes to accelerate expansion for its emerging franchise system,” Nation’s Restaurant News reports.
“Company officials said in a statement that it has targeted Oklahoma City as the next franchise market because of the area’s growing residential and business communities.”
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“Potbelly is calling for multiunit operators for Oklahoma City and eventually other Oklahoma cities like Tulsa, Norman and Stillwater. Outside the state, the company said it would target franchise growth in nearby Arkansas, Nebraska and Iowa.”
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Chicago Meatpackers
Hamburg.
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Comments welcome.
Posted on March 24, 2014