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NRN editors discuss Taco Bell and Hopdoddy Burger Bar menu trends and Boston Market’s declineNRN editors discuss Taco Bell and Hopdoddy Burger Bar menu trends and Boston Market’s decline

Plus hear from Carissa De Santis, chief technology officer of Brix Holdings

Holly Petre, Assistant Digital Editor

September 22, 2023

 

This week on Extra Serving, a Nation’s Restaurant News podcast, NRN editors Holly Petre, Sam Oches and Leigh Anne Zinsmeister spoke about menu trends.

Taco Bell has been experimenting with partner Mountain Dew for a few new products in test. One is a gelato made with Mountain Dew, and another is an energy drink in collaboration with the soda company. On the other side, Hopdoddy Burger Bar is introducing regenerative beef to its restaurants.

Elsewhere, Boston Market is still in the news. The chain has seen its fair share of trouble recently between labor violations and its owner Jay Pandya’s track record, but 27 units that were closed in New Jersey have reopened. Boston Market may be headed for bankruptcy, and the editors discussed what that could mean.

This week’s guest is Carissa De Santis, chief technology officer of Brix Holdings.

 

About the Author

Holly Petre

Assistant Digital Editor

Holly Petre is a digital editor for Nation’s Restaurant News as well as the host of NRN’s podcast, Extra Serving, and producer for Informa Restaurant and Food Group’s other three podcasts, One On One by Food Management, Off the Shelf with SN and In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn. Holly holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in Sculpture, fibers and Material Studies and Ceramics from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. A native New Yorker, Holly enjoys her place on staff as the resident pop-culture expert and millennial with a sassy attitude and great sense of style.

Holly Petre’s work on Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality often covers marketing and trends, either aimed-at or examined-through the millennial mindset. Holly is responsible for introducing TikTok and Twitch to NRN and RH readers as well as explaining terms like “Karen” to staff and readers alike. She also spends her time on staff trying not to make every headline a pun.

Holly Petre hasn’t spoken at any events or on panels, but she is readily available with a killer shoe wardrobe and several witty quips.

 

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