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Posts Tagged ‘Fast Food’

Theater Owners Don't Want You To Know A Large Popcorn Is Like Eating 3 Big Macs

23 Mar

The FDA is reportedly set to announce a decision that would force movie theater operators to post calorie counts next to their items in the same way that restaurant chains must. Not surprisingly, the theater owners are popping mad about this possibility.

According to a piece in today's L.A. Times, the National Association of Theatre Owners has been lobbying the FDA and congressional staff members to exempt movie theaters from the nutritional labeling requirement.

"We're not restaurants where people go to eat and satisfy themselves," the group's general counsel told the paper. "It's dinner and a movie, not dinner at a movie."

Of course, movie theater food is often more expensive than dinner... and profitable for the theater chains.

The Times quotes the CFO of Regal Entertainment Group as saying, "We sell a bucket of popcorn for about $6. Our cost in that $6 bucket of popcorn is about 15 cents or 20 cents. So if that cost doubles, it doesn't really hurt me that much."

But it might be hurting the people that eat the popcorn. A 2009 study by the spoilsports at the Center for Science in the Public Interest found that a large popcorn serving contained upward of 1,460 calories, almost as much as downing three Big Macs (approx. 1,600 calories).

Should theaters have to post calorie counts just like everyone else, or is movie theater food somehow different than restaurant food?

What's in the popcorn? Cinemas would rather not have to say [L.A. Times]

 
 

Panera Planning To Add More Pay-What-You-Want Restaurants

27 Jun

A month ago, Panera Bread Co. opened its first non-profit, pay-what-you-can-afford eatery, called the Saint Louis Bread Company Cares Café, in Clayton, MO. And the restaurant chain's chairman is so happy with the results, the company plans to launch two more in the coming months.

"I guess I would say it's performing better than we even might have hoped in our cynical moments, and it's living up to our best sense of humanity," Panera chairman Ron Shaich said of the experiment.

The restaurant's cashiers tell customers the suggested price of their orders and then the customers decide how much to pay. According to Shaich, between 60-70% pay the menu price. Around 15% dig into their pockets to pay a little more, while the other 15% or so pay less or even walk out paying nothing.

The restaurant, which features the same menu as Panera but is technically run by a non-profit organization called Panera Cares, took in $100,000 in revenue its first month. Panera supports the non-profit but is not on the hook financially if the pay-what-you-want restaurants fail.

Shaich didn't say where the non-profit's new locations would be. But a rep for Panera said they are looking for areas that will continue to attract an upscale diner, but is accessible to lower-income communities.



How Much Would You Pay At Panera If You Could Pay What You Want?survey software

Panera Co. to open more pay-what-you-wish eateries [AP]